Lecturers’ new book brings area of Law to life

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Lecturers’ new book brings area of Law to life

Friday, 09 September 2022

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A new textbook, whose co-authors include School of Business and Law lecturers Ken Yin and Dr Martin Allcock, is an important new resource for Law students across Australia.

Remedies: Cases and Materials in Australian Private Law accompanies the second edition of Remedies in Australian Private Law offering as the title suggests, resources to bring the theory of Remedial Law to life.

Remedial Law is the area of Law that covers the outcomes - or remedies - that litigants achieve from legal action.

The book includes case studies from landmark cases, legislation and other sources to provide a comprehensive guide in areas such as Australian Consumer Law, torts, contract, vindicatory damage and coercive remedies.

Ken said that case studies are important in demonstrating how abstract legal principles, actually work in real life.

Martin provided an example from the book concerning remedies in torts, with a focus on awards of compensation. One of the general legal principles in this area is that compensation in tort aims to place the victim ‘in the same position as he or she would have been in if he had not sustained the wrong’. The book covers the case of Evans v Balog [1976] 1 NSWLR 36.

Balog (the defendants) excavated a site to build a dwelling but the vibrations of the works caused significant damage to the Evans’ (the plaintiffs) home next door. The court had to decide whether the correct damages was the cost of reinstatement and restoration of the Evans’ home, or the lesser amount of the reduced value of the land. The defendants had argued that as the land was zoned for commercial development, the Evans’ land had not been devalued by the damage to their home.

In applying the relevant legal principle, the court held that it was reasonable for the plaintiffs to want to repair their family home, and that was the nature of their damage rather than the reduced value of their land.

The lead author is Professor Katy Barnett, Professor of Law at Melbourne University, who is one of the most eminent authors and commentators in the field and the co-author of Remedies in Australian Private Law.

Professor Barnett and Ken Yin had started working on the book when they realised that they needed additional expertise in torts in particular injury law, and they approached Dr Martin Allcock who is very experienced in this field.

The book, published by Cambridge University Press, will be available later this year.

School of Business and Law