Kit Barker

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 policy, with a focus on the tortious liability of government, misfeasance in public office and the use of private enforcers 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 the author of Enforcement Rights in Public and Private Law: Paradigms, Exceptions and Hybrids (OUP, 2026) and co-author of three other, major works - 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 (7th edn, 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. Enforcement Rights in Private and Public Law - Issues related to enforcement rights in both public and private law, including -the history of law enforcement - feuds, self-help and the development of state enforcement agencies -private criminal prosecutions - incidence, risks, rewards and modern role -the standing of private enforcers in actions for judicial review, misfeasance in public office, public nuisance, competition and consumer law, environmental law and human rights law -state enforcement of private rights in cases of incapacity, charity and in insolvency proceedings - theoretical modelling of 'rights of action' , their nature and constraints -'hybrid' law enforcement processes; Restitution and Unjust Enrichment - The law and philosophical underpinnings of civil remedies for unjust enrichment.; State Liability in Tort - Civil liability of the state for the wrongdoing of its agents and agencies. Interests include the tort of misfeasance in public office, false imprisonment and negligence in the execution of its public functions across a wide range of public welfare functions.; Philosophical Foundations of the Common Law; Defamation and Privacy - Private law remedies for defamation and invasions of privacy.; Private Law Remedies

[2024] 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: Hart Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781509969357.ch-008 [2024] Unjust enrichment. Barker, Kit and Grantham, Ross (2024). Unjust enrichment. 3rd ed. Chatswood, NSW Australia: LexisNexis Butterworths. [2023] 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. doi: 10.5040/9781509967032.ch-006 [2026] Exemplary damages as public interest awards: implication