Handbook home
Sports Law (LAWS50119)
Graduate coursework level 5Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
Availability(Quotas apply) | Semester 1 |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
Sports law has become established as a specialised area of legal interest. Sport generates substantial economic activity and in prominent ways is woven through the social fabric.
This subject is based on the premise that scholars, lawyers and those responsible for the governance of sport must be equipped with the means to understand and evaluate the law which regulates the important and vibrant activity that is sport.
As both a traditional pursuit and an industry of the modern age, sport intersects with law in many different ways, some of which challenge established legal rules and notions of thinking about law. This subject concentrates attention on the circumstances productive of such challenges and explores the reasons for special or unique treatment of sport by the law.
High levels of public engagement with sport can sometimes serve to position sport as an agent of legal change and as an effective means of transmitting legal knowledge and values. Legal practitioners and scholars need to be alert to these processes even if they do not claim a specialised involvement in sports law. Sports law also provides an important connection
between scholarship and legal practice because sport is an activity that presents law in applied and instructive settings.
Study of this different and challenging field will enable legal practitioners and scholars:
- To obtain advanced knowledge of an area of the law having special application to a significant economic and social activity;
- to understand the reasons and justifications for the different legal treatment of sport and to critically evaluate the worth of such justifications; and
- to develop practical understanding and professional skills from exposure to the ways in which law may be applied to a field of activity or an industry.
The principal topics that will be addressed in this subject will be:
- The legal structure and governance of the sporting movement, especially international organisations;
- common forms of player employment contracts and team member agreements in use in Australia;
- the legal status and significance of the rules of play;
- criminal and civil liability for sports injuries including participant to participant responsibility and vicarious liability of employer clubs;
- anti-doping with particular reference to the UNESCO International Convention Against Doping in Sport, the World Anti-Doping Code, the structure and functions of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, the National Anti-Doping Scheme and illicit drugs policies;
- anti-match-fixing laws with particular reference to sporting integrity units;
- selected legal topics in sports broadcasting and sports marketing including athlete personality rights, the legal status of major sports events and the control of unauthorised broadcasts;
- the lawfulness of labour market rules (e.g. transfer rules, drafts and salary caps) under pro-competition laws including the common law doctrine of restraint of trade and the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) Part IV.
Intended learning outcomes
A candidate who has successfully completed this subject will demonstrate:
- An appreciation of the role of law in Australian and international sport;
- a sophisticated understanding of the law applying to sport under each of the principal topics;
- the capacity to critically and independently evaluate that law and be able to engage in informed debate over its sufficiency to serve the interests of key stakeholders in sport; and
- through the assessment involving examination, the ability to identify and resolve theoretical and practical problems concerning the application of law to sporting activity.
Generic skills
On successful completion of this subject, students will have developed their skills in the following areas:
- Specialist understanding, interpretation, critical evaluation and synthesis of case law, statutory laws and regulatory instruments in Australia and internationally pertaining to sport;
- investigating a research question relevant to this complex field, creatively carrying out research involving diverse sources and preparing a piece of legal writing displaying sophisticated analysis, synthesis and theoretical understanding; and
- identifying and resolving theoretical and practical problems concerning the application of law to sporting activity in a manner that displays professional judgment.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Successful completion of all:
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS50023 | Legal Method and Reasoning |
Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville)
April (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
LAWS50024 | Principles of Public Law |
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
June (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
LAWS50025 | Torts |
November (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
LAWS50026 | Obligations |
May (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
LAWS50028 | Constitutional Law | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50029 | Contracts | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50031 | Legal Theory |
November (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
Successful completion of one of:
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS50027 | Dispute Resolution | Not available in 2024 |
12.5 |
LAWS90140 | Disputes and Ethics | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Successful completion of, or concurrent enrolment in, both of:
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS50032 | Administrative Law |
May (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
LAWS50034 | Criminal Law and Procedure | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
Students who have completed any of the below subjects are not permitted to take LAWS50119 Sports Law:
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS70059 | Sports Industry and the Law | July (Online) |
12.5 |
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Option 1, Part 1: Interim exam
| During the teaching period | 30% |
Option 1, Part 2: Supervised open-book final exam
| During the examination period | 70% |
Option 2: Supervised open-book final exam
| During the examination period | 100% |
Additional details
Note: Students must choose assessment from the options listed above. If an option contains parts, all parts must be completed if that option is chosen.
The due dates of the above assessment will be available to students via the LMS Community.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- Semester 1
Principal coordinator Jack Anderson Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 36 hours Total time commitment 144 hours Teaching period 2 March 2020 to 7 June 2020 Last self-enrol date 13 March 2020 Census date 30 April 2020 Last date to withdraw without fail 5 June 2020 Assessment period ends 3 July 2020
Additional delivery details
This subject has an enrolment quota of 60 students.
Enrolments occur on a first come, first served basis up to quota, except for the timely re-enrolment period. Timely enrolments enter a selection process, and unsuccessful enrolments are withdrawn.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law School website for further information about the management of subject quotas.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
- D. Thorpe et al, Sports Law, Sydney: Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 2018
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Juris Doctor - Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 3 November 2022