Handbook

The law of torts is one of the most significant areas of private law, being the dominant area which vindicates wrongs in the
civil arena. Since the basic torts course covers intentional torts, nuisance and negligence this course seeks to go beyond
those to consider major issues and difficulties in the law of torts. These include doctrinal issues such as the interface
between administrative and tort law in relation to liability of public authorities; theoretical issues such as how responsibility
is considered in tort law, and the impact of various torts on society. Since LAWS1061 Torts emphasises personal injury,
we consider economic loss and the economic torts in this course.

Main Topics

These will vary, as this is to some extent an issues-based course which is responsive to what is happening in tort law at
the time, but topics would include:

• Tortious liability of governments
• Tort law as human rights law
• Misfeasance in public office, abuse of process torts
• Economic torts including eg interference with contract, deceit
• Tort law and social responsibility
• The Civil Liability Acts as examples of tort reform