Macquarie University

Law of Obligations III - Remedies - LAWS827

Remedies brings the doctrinal private law areas of tort, contract and equity together, providing an analytical framework for exploring the interrelationship between rights and liabilities analysed in these areas and the remedies that are available to enforce them. Students will comprehensively compare the remedies available in common law (contract and tort) and equity and the effects of statute on these remedial responses. Remedies is organised according to self-help remedies, such as rescission, and judicial remedies, with the latter categorised according to (i) clarification of rights and pre-trial orders; (ii) monetary orders underpinned by the goals of compensation or gains-based recovery; (iii) punishment and (iv) coercion. This unit ‘closes the circle,’ bringing together the disparate elements of previous doctrinal units, refreshing, consolidating and extending prior study as a bridge into legal practice. Having a coherent understanding of the different remedial possibilities enables a practitioner to start with the client’s desired outcome and work back to select the appropriate cause(s) of action. It also serves as a bridge between the identification of private law rights and liabilities and the practicalities of litigation to obtain the appropriate judicial order, a matter developed in subsequent units dealing with the rules of evidence and practice and procedure.