
Overview
Background
Kit Barker joined the TC Beirne School of Law in 2006. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated with first class honours (in 1988) and subsequently completed the BCL (with distinction) in 1991. He was admitted to the Middle Temple Inn of Court as a Harmsworth Scholar and to the Bar of England and Wales in 1990. He is interested in private law as a whole, but specialises in the law of torts and unjust enrichment law and the law's doctrine, philosophical foundations and remedies. More recently, his work has explored the interface between private law and public law and public policy, with a focus on the tortious liability of government, misfeasance in public office and the use of private enforcement techniques in public law. He is a former Associate Dean (Research) at the TC Beirne School of Law and an assistant editor of the Torts Law Journal. He is co-author of three books - Unjust Enrichment (3rd ed, Sydney, Lexis Nexis, Butterworths, 2024, 1st ed, 2008), The Law of Torts in Australia (5th ed, 2011, OUP) and Remedies: Commentary and Materials (Thomson, 2015). He is also an editor and contributor to six essay collections: Life and Death in Private Law (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2024), Private Law: Key Encounters with Public Law (Cambridge University Press, 2013), The Law of Misstatements (Hart Publishing, 2015); Private Law and Power (Hart Publishing, 2017) ; Private Law in the Twenty-First Century (Hart Publishing, 2017); Apportionment in Private Law (Hart Publishing, 2018) and the Research Handbook on Unjust Enrichment and Restitution (Edward Elgar, 2020).
He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and current director of the Australian Centre of Private Law at the TC Beirne School of Law.
Availability
- Professor Kit Barker is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts, University of Oxford
- Masters (Coursework), University of Oxford
- Masters (Coursework) of Law, University of Oxford
Research interests
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State Liability in Tort
Civil liability of the state for for the tort of misfeasance in public office, false imprisonment and negligence in the execution of its public functions.
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Philosophical Foundations of the Common Law
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Defamation and Privacy
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Private Law Remedies
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Restitution and Unjust Enrichment
The law and philosophical underpinnings of civil remedies for unjust enrichment.
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Torts
Works
Search Professor Kit Barker’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2024
Book Chapter
Suicide, Madness and State - The Tale from Tort
Barker, Kit (2024). Suicide, Madness and State - The Tale from Tort. Life and Death in Private Law. (pp. 149-174) edited by Kate Falconer, Kit Barker and Andrew Fell. Oxford, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury.
2024
Book
Unjust enrichment
Barker, Kit and Grantham, Ross (2024). Unjust enrichment. 3rd ed. Chatswood, NSW Australia: LexisNexis Butterworths.
Featured
2021
Journal Article
Misfeasance in public office: raw statistics from the Australian front line
Barker, Kit and Lamont, Katelyn (2021). Misfeasance in public office: raw statistics from the Australian front line. Sydney Law Review, 43 (3), 315-348.
Featured
2021
Book Chapter
Punishment in private law - no such thing (any more)
Barker, Kit (2021). Punishment in private law - no such thing (any more). Punishment and private law . (pp. 35-62) edited by Elise Bant, Wayne Courtney, James Goudkamp and Jeannie Marie Paterson. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing . doi: 10.5040/9781509939183.ch-002
Featured
2020
Journal Article
Unjust enrichment in Australia - What is(n't) it ? Implications for legal reasoning and practice
Barker, Kit (2020). Unjust enrichment in Australia - What is(n't) it ? Implications for legal reasoning and practice. Melbourne University Law Review, 2020 (43), 903-936.
Featured
2017
Book
Private law and power
Kit Barker, Simone Degeling, Karen Fairweather and Ross Grantham eds. (2017). Private law and power. Hart Studies in Private Law, Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2024
Book
Life and death in private law
Kate Falconer, Kit Barker and Andrew Fell eds. (2024). Life and death in private law. Hart Studies in Private Law, Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart.
2024
Other Outputs
Private Rights of Action in Private Law: A Limited Continuity
Barker, Kit (2024). Private Rights of Action in Private Law: A Limited Continuity. Obligations Discussion Group, University of Oxford.
2024
Conference Publication
Rights of Action in Private Law: Paradigms, Exceptions and Justifications
Barker, Kit (2024). Rights of Action in Private Law: Paradigms, Exceptions and Justifications. Rights of Action in Private Law, London, United Kingdom, 30 October 2024.
2024
Journal Article
Unjust enrichment in Australia 2024
Barker, Kit and Kretowicz, Anna (2024). Unjust enrichment in Australia 2024. Llloyds Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2024 (May), 302-350.
2024
Conference Publication
Suicide and the State: a Duty of Care? Reconsidering Stuart v Kirkland-Veenstra
Barker, Kit (2024). Suicide and the State: a Duty of Care? Reconsidering Stuart v Kirkland-Veenstra. Tort Law and Compensation Systems, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 15-16 February 2024.
2023
Book Chapter
Lamb v Cotogno (1987): insured punishment
Barker, Kit (2023). Lamb v Cotogno (1987): insured punishment. Landmark cases in the law of punitive damages. (pp. 99-128) edited by James Goudkamp and Eleni Katsampouka. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2023
Journal Article
Unjust enrichment in Australia 2023
Barker, Kit and Bristow, Penelope (2023). Unjust enrichment in Australia 2023. Lloyds Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2023 (1), 130-170.
2022
Conference Publication
Insured punishment - the awkward case of Lamb v Cotogno
Barker, Kit (2022). Insured punishment - the awkward case of Lamb v Cotogno. Landmark Cases in the Law of Punitive Damages, Oxford, United Kingdom, 30 Sept, 6-7 Oct 2022.
2022
Journal Article
Unjust enrichment in Australia 2022
Barker, Kit, Bristow, Penelope and Walpole, Samuel (2022). Unjust enrichment in Australia 2022. Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2022 (2), 289-312.
2021
Conference Publication
Rights of action in private and public law: the analytics of enforcement
Barker, Kit (2021). Rights of action in private and public law: the analytics of enforcement. *, *, *. McGill University.
2021
Journal Article
Unjust enrichment in Australia 2021
Walpole, Samuel and Barker, Kit (2021). Unjust enrichment in Australia 2021. Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2021, 179-204.
2021
Other Outputs
'Rights' of Action in Public and Private Law: The Analytics of Enforcement
Barker, Kit (2021). 'Rights' of Action in Public and Private Law: The Analytics of Enforcement. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3883088
2020
Conference Publication
Unjust Enrichment in Australia- What Is(n't) it ?
Barker, Kit (2020). Unjust Enrichment in Australia- What Is(n't) it ? . Melbourne University Obligations Discussion Group - Unjust Enrichment and Restitution, Melbourne/Zoom, 3-4 December 2020.
2020
Journal Article
Unjust enrichment in Australia
Walpole, Samuel and Barker, Kit (2020). Unjust enrichment in Australia. Lloyds Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2020, 311-343.
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Kit Barker is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
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The law and theory of unjust enrichment
Potential topics available include:
- Foundational theories of unjust enrichment
- Remedies for unjust enrichment
For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au
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The modern law of torts
Potential topics available include:
- State Negligence
- Liabilities for Pure Economic Loss
- Misfeasance in Public Office and False Prosecution
- Private actions for the Invasion of Privacy
- Remedies for Defamation
For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au.
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Private Enforcement
Potential topics available include:
- Theories of Public and Private Enforcement
- The role of the Bounty Hunter – past and present
For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au
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The law and theory of unjust enrichment
Potential topics available include:
- Foundational theories of unjust enrichment
- Remedies for unjust enrichment
For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au
-
The modern law of torts
Potential topics available include:
- State Negligence
- Liabilities for Pure Economic Loss
- Misfeasance in Public Office and False Prosecution
- Private actions for the Invasion of Privacy
- Remedies for Defamation
For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au.
-
Private Law Enforcement
Potential topics available include:
- Theories of Public and Private Enforcement
- The role of the Bounty Hunter – past and present
For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au
Supervision history
Completed supervision
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Which of the Duties of Directors are Fiduciary?
Principal Advisor
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Coherence in Australian Private Law: A Review of the High Court's Approach
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ross Grantham
Media
Enquiries
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