71116 Remedies

Description

This subject principally flows on from 70311 Torts and 70211 Contracts, focusing on the remedies available for those common law causes of action. The subject introduces students to equitable and statutory remedies for misleading and deceptive conduct under the Australian consumer law. Accordingly this subject compares and contrasts common law, and equitable and statutory remedies, demonstrating how a particular interest may be protected by the law in several ways.

This subject links with the private law subjects studied in a law degree. The interests protected by tort, contract and real property, which together provide the general legal foundation for modern private law, overlap, therefore interference with these interests may be protected by more than one right or remedy.

A fundamental objective of the study of remedies is to consider the various court-ordered remedies that may be sought by a person who has been wronged and comparatively evaluate them. The study of remedies is concerned with choices available and considerations which inform them.

Damages are generally available 'as of right', and unconditionally, for common law and statutory wrongs. Selection from the 'smorgasbord' of statutory remedies available for deceptive trade practices is conditioned on the court's view of appropriateness, an inquiry which is broader-ranging than exercise of the equitable discretion.

This subject not only provides a conceptual foundation for considering and analysing the various remedies available for rights to be studied later in the degree; coverage of the statutory deceptive trade practices action also provides a stepping stone from rights developed by judges and studied early in the degree to the statutory rights to be studied later in the degree (eg corporate and commercial law, and most electives).