
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
2017
Book Chapter
The dynamics of private law and power
Barker, Kit (2017). The dynamics of private law and power. Private law and power. (pp. 3-28) edited by Kit Barker, Simone Degeling, Karen Fairweather and Ross B. Grantham. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart.
2017
Book
Unjust enrichment
Barker, Kit and Grantham, Ross (2017). Unjust enrichment. 2nd ed. Chatswood, NSW, Australia: LexisNexis Butterworths.
2017
Book Chapter
Designing Reparation: Lessons from Private Law
Degeling, Simone and Barker, Kit (2017). Designing Reparation: Lessons from Private Law. New Directions for Law in Australia: Essays in Contemporary Law Reform. (pp. 321-328) edited by Ron Levy, Molly O'Brien, Simon Rice, Pauline Ridge and Margaret Thornton. ACT, Canberra: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/NDLA.09.2017.29
2016
Journal Article
Public authority liability for negligence in the Post-Ipp era: sceptical reflections on the 'policy defence'
Bell-James, Justine and Barker, Kit (2016). Public authority liability for negligence in the Post-Ipp era: sceptical reflections on the 'policy defence'. Melbourne University Law Review, 40 (1), 1-45.
2016
Journal Article
Restitution Regional Digest - Australia 2016
Barker, Kit and Walpole, Samuel (2016). Restitution Regional Digest - Australia 2016. Restitution Law Review, 24, 185-211.
2016
Book
Private Law in the Twenty-First Century
Kit Barker, Karen Fairweather and Ross B. Grantham eds. (2016). Private Law in the Twenty-First Century. United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2016
Conference Publication
Analytical Philosophy and Private Law: The Modern Value of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld
Barker, Kit (2016). Analytical Philosophy and Private Law: The Modern Value of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld. A Discourse on the Legal Method: Historical and Philosophical Influences on Legal Thinking', Moscow, Russia, 22-25 June 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
Discretionary power and the law of negligence - public power, private duty
Barker, Kit (2016). Discretionary power and the law of negligence - public power, private duty. Visitor Seminar Series, Sheffield, United Kingdom, 5 July 2016.
2015
Book
The law of misstatements: 50 years on from Hedley Byrne v Heller
Kit Barker, Ross Grantham and Warren Swain eds. (2015). The law of misstatements: 50 years on from Hedley Byrne v Heller. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2015
Journal Article
Drifting towards proportionate liability: ethics and pragmatics
Barker, Kit and Steele, Jenny (2015). Drifting towards proportionate liability: ethics and pragmatics. Cambridge Law Journal, 74 (1), 49-77. doi: 10.1017/S0008197314001135
2015
Journal Article
Private law and grave historical injustice: the role of private law
Degeling, Simone and Barker, Kit (2015). Private law and grave historical injustice: the role of private law. Monash University Law Review, 41 (2), 377-413.
2015
Journal Article
Restitution Regional Digest - Australia 2015
Barker, Kit and Tait, Harrison (2015). Restitution Regional Digest - Australia 2015. Restitution Law Review, 23, 141-169.
2015
Book Chapter
Hedley Byrne v Heller: Issues for the Beginning of the Twenty First Century
Barker, Kit (2015). Hedley Byrne v Heller: Issues for the Beginning of the Twenty First Century. The Law of Misstatements: 50 Years on from Hedley Byrne v Heller. (pp. 3-26) edited by Kit Barker, Ross B. Grantham and Warren Swain. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2015
Book Chapter
Injunctions
Barker, Kit (2015). Injunctions. Remedies: commentary and materials. (pp. 1021-1136) edited by Kit Barker, Elise Bant, Simone Degeling and Normann Witzleb. Pyrmont, NSW, Australia: Thomson Reuters.
2015
Book Chapter
Negligent Misstatement in Australia - Resolving The Uncertain Legacy of Esanda
Barker, Kit (2015). Negligent Misstatement in Australia - Resolving The Uncertain Legacy of Esanda. The Law of Misstatements: 50 Years on from Hedley Byrne v Heller. (pp. 319-344) edited by Barker, Kit, Grantham, Ross and Swain, Warren. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2015
Book Chapter
Specific relief - general principles and specific performance
Barker, Kit (2015). Specific relief - general principles and specific performance. Remedies: commentary and materials. (pp. 909-1020) edited by Kit Barker, Elise Bant, Simone Degeling and Normann Witzleb. Pyrmont, NSW, Australia: Thomson Reuters.
2015
Book
The Law of Misstatements: 50 Years on from Hedley Byrne v Heller
Kit Barker, Ross B. Grantham and Warren Swain eds. (2015). The Law of Misstatements: 50 Years on from Hedley Byrne v Heller. 1st ed. Hart studies in private law, Oxford: Hart Publishing.
2015
Book Chapter
The nature of remedies
Barker, Kit, Bant, Elise, Degeling, Simone and Witzleb, Normann (2015). The nature of remedies. Remedies: commentary and materials. (pp. 1-34) edited by Kit Barker, Elise Bant, Simone Degeling and Normann Witzleb. Pyrmont, NSW, Australia: Thomson Reuters.
2014
Journal Article
Damages without loss: can Hohfeld help?
Barker, Kit (2014). Damages without loss: can Hohfeld help?. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 34 (4), 631-658. doi: 10.1093/ojls/gqu012
2014
Conference Publication
Drifting Towards Proportionate Liability - Ethics and Pragmatics
Barker, Kit and Jenny Steele (2014). Drifting Towards Proportionate Liability - Ethics and Pragmatics. Obligations VII, Hong Kong, 15th-18th July.
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 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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