Daniel Meyerowitz Katz

It depends on the legislation, but in the vast majority of cases the answer is that if something is illegal at the time it is done, then it will have been illegal, even if doing the same thing later became legal.

So the answer is most likely that yes, the case can continue.

You would have a few options. A lot of the time all you need to do is send an angry letter threatening to take him to court, although it may be a good idea to hire a lawyer to write the angry letter. If that doesn't work, you could consider taking him to the small claims court, although without knowing more it's not possible to assess your prospects of success.

Unfortunately $2,000 is a relatively small amount in terms of legal proceedings, and the cost of recovering it could well make it not worth your while. The best advice really is not to deal with this guy again.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation

In short, yes, a University can generally cancel a Course mid way. In essence, the provision or delivery of a Course is a contractual matter between the University and the student. The particulars of the contract are contained in the University Regulations, Policies or similar documents that a student is deemed to agree to by enrolling. A University generally does not guarantee that a Course will be conducted or continue to be conducted, or the nature of the degree conferred at the end of the Course. For example, your course may have led to a Bachelor of Science degree, but now leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree.

However, this does not mean you are without recourse. There may be a variety of legal avenues open to you including:

1. A refund on Course fees (which may be provided for in the regulations)

2. Re-enrolment in a different but substantially similar Course

3. Damages for breach of contract. The amount of damages would depend on the harm suffered by the student and what options are available to the student to mitigate his or her loss.

It is impossible to give you any meaningful advice without more information, but in general terms, it depends on what led to you to believe that you had to pay the lower amount. If it was your own carelessness in failing to read the contract properly, then most likely you will have to pay.

If the other party said or did anything to make you believe that you had to pay less than what was actually provided in the contract, or if they knew that you were under the wrong impression but did nothing to correct your understanding, then you may have a remedy in law. In that case, you should go and see a solicitor and talk through the situation.