The law of tort(s) is in a state of transition. The tort of negligence is being systematically reformed. The right to recover compensation for personal injury will be significantly reformed and will include a number of new concepts and techniques to limit rights to recovery. It is likely that some of these reforms will be carried over into other causes of action founded in negligence.
Tort law reform is not the only change affecting the operation of the law of torts. There are broad changes in other parts of the legal system which are significantly altering the operation of the tort of negligence and of other torts. These include the growth of regulatory law, in which have statutory rights to recover compensation are integrated into regulatory schemes. These include the rights to recover compensation under the Trade Practices Act 1974, rights to recover compensation for losses arising out of prohibited conduct concerning financial products.
It is clearly not possible to present an authoritative view on how the law of tort(s) will respond to the impetus for change. This course cannot provide a single set of answers to this problem. The course can however provide an overview of some of the paths which the law of tort(s) could follow in response to these changes.
The main objective of this course is to provide some of the tools necessary to understand how the law of tort(s) might develop in this new context. This will be important in establishing some points of references for both lawyers and non-lawyers who will have to assist their own organisations and clients to navigate around this new environment.
This course will review recent developments in a range of torts, including intentional torts, economic torts, and torts covering claims for personal injury. This course will not review the tort of defamation. In addition there will be a review of the interaction between tort and human rights in a number of countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom.