Postgraduate - Edith Cowan University

LAW5600 15 Credit Points
Law of Banking and Credit
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW
This unit examines the law relating to various aspects of banking
and credit including the legal aspects of the banker/customer
relationship, the legal dimensions of cheques and other negotiable
instruments, the types and nature of security, lending to different
entities, an overview of the law applying to persons in financial
difficulties, and an overview of the legal regime governing
consumer credit in Australia.
LAW5601 15 Credit Points
Planning Development Law 1
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW
Prerequisite :
LAW5000 Legal Framework
This unit will introduce students to the land use planning system
in Western Australia with particular focus on the Planning and
Development Act 2005 (WA). The role of state planning policies,
region planning schemes and local planning schemes will be
examined. The relationship between region planning schemes,
local government schemes, planning control provisions and
written laws will be examined, together with subdivision and
development control. Practical matters such as Model Scheme
Text and Residential Design Codes will also be reviewed.
Students will be made aware of interim development orders,
planning control areas and improvement plans. Particular attention
will be given to the promotion of sustainable land use and
development as a fundamental and underlying objective of the
land use planning system in Western Australia.
This unit will also examine the role of administrative law in
determining planning disputes and policy development. The
legislative nature of by-laws and regulations will be explained as
will grounds and avenues of challenge to planning proposals.
The learning content in this unit will reflect the knowledge and
experience of the students participating.
Throughout this unit, students will also be encouraged to critically
reflect on whether the process of consolidation under the new
planning and development regime in Western Australia has
streamlined the planning process and provided for a more clear,
certain and workable planning system for this State.
LAW5602 15 Credit Points
Criminal Offences
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW
This unit introduces the basic concepts of criminal law and then
analyses, in detail, key elements of the criminal law in Western
Australia, including defences, excuses and justifications. It will
focus on the Criminal Code (Western Australia 1913) and various
amendments. Students will examine the substantive areas of
criminal law in so far as they relate to selected offences including
fatal offences against the person, assaults, stalking and threats.
Key elements of criminal procedure will also be covered in
examining the selected offences.
LAW5603 15 Credit Points
Criminal Offences, Defences and Procedure
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW
This unit builds upon the learning outcomes and attributes
achieved by the successful completion of Criminal Offences. This
unit analyses a broad range of defences, offences involving
multiple parties as well as the specifics of criminal procedure. In
discussing these offences, students will examine the legislative
provisions of the Criminal Code (Western Australia 1913) (with
amendments) and relevant cases. Key topics in the criminal justice
area will be identified to illustrate the need for reform of criminal
law in a range of important areas.
LAW5604 15 Credit Points
Legal Process
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW
This unit imparts basic skills in primary and secondary legal
research, legal writing and problem solving. We open by
discussing the sources of law, the way that the doctrine of
precedent operates, ratio decidendi, obiter dicta and stare decisis.
Statutes and methods of interpreting them will also be considered
at this stage. Then we move to the skills components of the course
which comprise of instruction sessions on how to read a case, how
to write a case brief, how to cite legal materials properly and how
to apply legal principles derived from case law and other sources
to a set of facts in a problem question.
LAW5605 15 Credit Points
Law of Evidence
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW
This unit examines the law of evidence in Western Australia,
examining provisions of the Western Australian Evidence Act
1906 and the Commonwealth Evidence Act 1995. Students will
be introduced to the rules relating to relevant and admissible
evidence as a means to resolve facts and issues at trial. The unit
will examine the rules relating to the competence and
compellability of witnesses, the rule against hearsay, similar fact
evidence, and the right against self-incrimination. Particular focus
on the fairness of adversarial litigation and reforms to substantive
evidence will be given.
LAW5606 15 Credit Points
Criminal Liability and Sentencing
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW
In this unit students will critically examine crime, criminal law
and related institutions. The unit will build on the basic principles
upon which criminal laws are founded and operate, including the
processes used to establish criminal liability and punish offenders.
Students will explore from a critical framework, criminalisation
and sentencing processes. This will involve a critical contextual
and interpretive approach to the criminal justice system in
Western Australia, with references to international trends and
Aboriginal Customary Law.
LAW5609 15 Credit Points
Planning Development Law 2
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW
Prerequisite :
LAW5000 Legal Framework
This unit further examines the land use planning in Western
Australia, with a particular focus on private land use planning
through the use of freehold covenants, in particular easements and
restrictive covenants, the requirements for creation and
enforceability and the means of discharge and modification.
Schemes of development in Australia will also be examined,
whereby a development may seek to restrict the future use to
which purchasers of real property may make of their property.
The regulation of land use between parties through the rules and
regulations of strata schemes will also be examined. Students will
also be introduced to statutory provisions in Western Australia for
the protection of heritage through memorials, notifications and
covenants.
This unit will also examine the doctrine of tenure and native title
in Australia, with a focus on core legal issues relevant to planners
arising out of Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), in particular the
statutory process for the recognition and protection of native title,
mediation, the Future Acts scheme and indigenous land use
agreements.
The learning content in this unit will reflect the knowledge and
experience of the students participating.
258 ECU Postgraduate Course Guide 2008