General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | JDOC2001 & 2002 |
| Course name: | Equity and Trusts I & II |
| Programme offered under: | JD Programme |
| Semester: | Full year |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | Contract Law; Co-requisite: Land Law I & II |
| Credit point value: | 6 credits + 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
History and nature of equity; equitable obligations (fiduciary obligations, breach of confidence other than trade secrets); equitable remedies (account, rescission, compensation, Lord Cairns’ Act, injunction).
History and nature of trusts; creation of express trusts (the three certainties, formal requirements, constitution of trusts); administration of trusts; variation of trusts; the duties of trustees and rights of beneficiaries; liability for breach of trust, personal and proprietary; resulting and constructive trusts.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Jed Kroncke | jkroncke@hku.hk | CCT 610 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this Course
CLO 1 Knowledge: by the end of the course, students should be able to demonstrate a solid understanding of the principles of Equity and Trusts:
– Equity: Equity is a vast subject and has made important contributions to common (as opposed to statutory) law in the following ways: (a) ameliorating the harshness of the common law see your Contract Law materials; (b) creating property rights see your Property Law materials; and (c) developing rules to protect the reposition of trust and confidence on somebody see this course, and especially the content of the fiduciary duty and remedies for its breach.
– Trusts are a subset of Equity. It deals with the specific situation when trust and confidence is reposed to another person with respect to a piece of property. Special rules are developed as to the creation of a trust, the content of a trustee duties, and remedies for breach of trust.
Students should be skilled in reading Equity & Trusts cases, and be able to critically assess the reasoning and conclusion of the cases.
CLO 2 Problem-solving skills: By the end of the course, students will have had some practice in applying the law to the facts, which involves identifying the relevant law for a given factual scenario, applying it to the facts, and distinguishing precedents on material grounds.
CLO 3 Critically thinking skills: By the end of the course, students will have been given opportunities to analyse and critique the principles and process of developing the law of equity and trusts.
CLO 4 Presentation skills: By the end of the course, students will have been given opportunities to present effectively legal arguments, both orally and in writing.
2.2 JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link: https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Mid-term in-hall exam | 19 Dec 2023 | 50% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Response papers | TBC | 20% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Final in-hall exam | 6 May 2024 | 30% | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Lecture: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/