Emeritus Professor
Malcolm Cope

Biography

Background
Professor Malcolm Cope was Dean of the Faculty of Law from 1997 - 2003. He joined the Faculty of Law in 1991 as Professor and Associate Dean of the Faculty and Director of Undergraduate Programs. Prior to 1991, Professor Cope held appointments in the Faculty of Law at the University of Queensland. He was admitted as a Barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1976. After resigning as Dean late in 2003, Professor Cope undertook a year of research leave before returning in 2005 as a Professor in the School of Law.
On his retirement in December 2009, the QUT Council resolved to award Malcolm the title of Professor Emeritus. The Council’s decision is a fitting recognition of Malcolm’s outstanding contribution to QUT and the Faculty of Law in particular.
Professor Cope is a recognised national and international authority in the area of Equity and Trusts, and he has undertaken extensive research into various aspects of Equity and Trusts including

• undue influence


• unconscionable dealing


• fiduciary obligations


• constructive trusts


• equitable remedies, particularly proprietary remedies and their operation in the context of insolvency.

He has published extensively on these matters including

• 1985: Duress, Undue Influence and Unconscientious Bargains


• 1992: Constructive Trusts


• 1997: Proprietary Claims and Remedies


• 1995: edited and contributed to a book of essays Equity Issues and Trends which was the result of an International Equity and Trust Conference which he organised at QUT in 1994.

He has also contributed articles on aspects of equity and trusts in leading law journals and contributed to the Unfair Dealing volume of The Laws of Australia (1993). His work has been cited in judgements and other academic writings.
In 1996 he was appointed as a Visiting Fellow at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, in recognition of his scholarly contributions to the field of Equity and Trusts. In 2004 Professor Cope was also awarded a Visiting Fellowship by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Legal Study, University of London in order to undertake the research and writing for a new book on Equitable Obligations. The book was published by Thomson Legal and Regulatory in 2007 under the title Equitable Obligations: Duties, Defences and Remedies. In 2005 Professor Cope became a member of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law following an invitation to join the Academy.
Professor Cope has extensive teaching experience at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Equity and Trusts, and he has supervised Masters Research Projects and research degree theses. He is regularly invited by other universities to act as an external examiner of research degree theses submitted for the Master of Laws by Research and for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Research interests

• Equity


• Trusts.