Comparative Corporate Insolvency Law (LAWS90112)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2021
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
About this subject
Overview
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Corporate bankruptcy and corporate rescue pose fundamental questions for the insolvency regime. This subject examines some of the central rules, policies and principles of corporate bankruptcy and insolvency law, as well as the economic and social objectives attributed to the bankruptcy and insolvency system. The subject will be taught from a comparative perspective, drawing upon the laws of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. A comparative perspective will enable students to examine and critically evaluate the varied legal solutions to common insolvency law issues. This approach will allow students to acquire advanced and specialised knowledge in recent developments in insolvency law. The lecturer is a Professor of Law at Western University in Canada and he has taught subjects in insolvency and commercial law at universities in Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia.
Principal topics include:
- Historical overview (a discussion of the origins of insolvency law to place current developments in context)
- Modern insolvency law objectives and theory (students will consider competing theories of modern insolvency objectives, contrasting broader distributional and public interest theories with a pro-creditor approach)
- Initiating bankruptcy proceedings against a corporation (students will assess how various jurisdictions enable creditors to initiate an involuntary corporate bankruptcy)
- Voidable preferences (students will evaluate various statutory models that have emerged to cope with the problem of debtor corporations making preferential payments to favoured creditors prior to bankruptcy)
- Director liability and the insolvent corporation (an assessment of the risk of personal liability of directors in the context of corporate insolvency)
- Equitable subordination (an emerging issue in Canada, and long established in the United States, is whether a court has jurisdiction to equitably subordinate the claim of a creditor in a corporate bankruptcy)
- Corporate rescue or liquidation? (an evaluation of the trend from traditional corporate rescue law (where the company is rescued in some form) to the more recent development of corporate liquidations being carried out under a corporate reorganisation statute)
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Have an advanced and integrated understanding of the central rules, policies and principles of insolvency law from a comparative perspective
- Have an advanced and integrated understanding of the economic and social objectives attributed to the insolvency law system
- Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess the effectiveness of current insolvency laws and policies
- Be an engaged participant in debates regarding contemporary and emerging issues in the field such as involuntary bankruptcies, voidable preferences, director liability, equitable subordination and corporate rescue
- Have the cognitive and technical skills to independently examine, research and analyse contemporary and emerging insolvency law issues
- Have the cognitive and technical skills to be able to critically evaluate and compare various jurisdictional solutions to common insolvency law problems
- Have the communication skills to clearly articulate their knowledge and ideas to an insolvency specialist, as well as to a non-specialist audience
- Be able apply their knowledge and skills with autonomy to execute a substantial research-based project in the insolvency law field.
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Admission into a relevant Melbourne Law Masters program
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
| Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWS70343 | International Corporate Insolvency | No longer available |
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
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: 11 April 2024
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Class participation | Throughout the teaching period | 10% |
Research paper on topic approved by the subject coordinator
| 6 February 2019 | 90% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2021
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a first come, first served basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of places in subjects will be given as follows:
- To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
- To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 11 April 2024