Hsc Legal Studies Unit 2
VCE Legal Studies Unit 2 Exam Chapters (7,8,9,10,11&15)
AREA OF STUDY 2: CIVIL LAW AND AREA OF STUDY 2: THE CIVIL LAW IN ACTION.
1. The difference between civil law and criminal law.
Civil law applies to people in the community who had the wrong things such as civil against each other. Criminal law is someone who commits murder, sexual assault and theft etc. It is the law enforced by police.
2. The need for a hierarchy of courts, i.e reasons
In a court hierarchy, different courts have different responsibilities. Lower courts, such as the State Magistrates’ Courts, hear minor or less important cases wheras the higher courts, like State Supreme Courts and the High Court of Australia deal with serious cases. Each Hierarchy Courts deal with all …show more content…
sorts of cases.
3. A general understanding of the doctrine of judicial precedent.
The doctrine of judicial precedent is the Common Law system of rights and duties. Judicial precedent is dealed with the major of case law in the common law system. The doctrine of judicial precedent is based on the principles of stare decisis meaning ‘to stand by what has been decided’, and that legal decisions made by judges in higher or courts or lower courts.
4. The role of rules of evidence and procedure used in our adversary mode of trial, including an evaluation, i.e. strengths versus weaknesses.
Strengths
Testing the person of arguments and finding out the truth. Each side in the court is given the rights to present the evidences and arguments for their case and to ask questions to the opposition through the process of witness being examined in the chief seat.
Providing all the evidences and information for the case.
Weaknesses
The adversary system is slow which means that too many people are denied for too long because the adversary system decides to lengthens the trial process.
The adversary system may cost.
The difficult on understanding the high skilled qualified lawyers that witness may get confused.
5. The role of a jury (if used) in a civil case, including a critical valuation of this role, i.e. strengths and weaknesses, your thoughts and justification for your thoughts.
Strengths
Ordinary people get involved in being the jury.
The jury system has to stay there for a set of time, juries have been used over the 800 years.
Weaknesses
The task is too difficult for ordinary people who need to understand the legal argument.
6. Problems with courts deciding civil matters as compared to tribunals, e.g. the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal deals with a range of disputes involving areas such as discrimination, the purchase and supply of goods, consumer credit, domestic building works, and residential. Courts have difficult deciding the cases because of the amount of procedures and evidences they would have to go through.
7. Know the different methods of dispute resolution, e.g. mediation, conciliation and arbitration.
Mediation: A neutral person called a mediator helps people in dispute to negotiate with each other in order to resolve the dispute.
Conciliation: Those in dispute endeavor to reach an agreement with the advice and assistance of an impartial person called a conciliator.
Arbitration: People in dispute use a formal process whereby they present their case to an arbitrator who is an independent third person. The arbitrator decides the outcome of the case.
8. Judicial determination (courts) of civil disputes, including an evaluation, i.e. strengths and weaknesses.
Strengthes
Makes binding decisions
Decisions more easily enforceable
Weaknesses
High cost of proceedings
Can be traumatic for parties to attend court
Can be long delays
9. A general knowledge of the range of the lists at VCAT
Tribunal’s lists are:
The civil claims list
The residential tenancies list
The domestic building list
10. A general understanding of the process and procedures used by VCAT to resolve a dispute.
Some cases takes 15 minutes to resolve, while others may take a day. The process begins when a user of VCAT’s services files an application with the relevant files.
Many cases proceed to a hearing, hearings give parties the opportunity to call or give evidence, ask questions of witnesses and make submissions than the member of VCAT either gives an decision on the spot or writes up an decision and than delivers the decision as soon as possible.
11.
Know the 3 elements of the civil law of negligence, i.e. duty of care owed, breach of duty and damage as a result of the breach of duty.
Duty of care: It is to maintain and be ensure the safety or well-being of others.
Breach of the duty of care: A person may be liable for negligence in a personal injury case if his breach of duty caused another person’s injuries.
Damage as a result of the breach of duty: The loss or damage suffered by you was caused by the other party’s negligence.
12. A general understanding of the two main cases that developed the law of negligence, Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)- house of lords case and Grant v Australian knitting mills (1936)- high court of Australia case. Know one similarity and one difference between these two cases.
Similarity: The similarities are that both cases talk about something that was involved in the product they have caused from and that the courts have found both cases duty of care meaning that (The snail in the bottle case) the manufacturer could be liable of damages for not selling its products anymore so as (Australian knitting mills) manufacturer have seeked damages as well and that they can no longer sell their garments to there …show more content…
consumers.
Differences: The differences are that; Donoghue couldn’t sued the coffee shop because she wasn’t the person that had purchased the drink, and therefore only the person who had purchased than however can sue in contract law. But, as her friend purchased the drink, Donoghue could not rely on contract law to recover damages.
The other case for A bad itch; is that Grant who had purchased the garments himself, the court had found that Australian knitting Mills had a duty of care to the wearers of its garments.
13. Role of jury in a civil case.
The role of a jury in a civil case is that the judge will draw out 12 cards and it contains the name, home address and occupation of each juror. The plaintiff and defendant than will strike out 3 jurors so than 6 juror’s will be left to hear the case and to decide on it if its either guilty or not. And than they would be identified as numbers.
14. The range of civil remedies and their purposes.
The range of civil remedies and its purposes are:
Damages: The most common remedy and that the actual dollar amount of damages awarded will change according to the circumstances and the injuries the plaintiff had went through.
Injunctions: It’s an order from the court either stopping the defendant from doing something.
Order of specific performance: The court telling the defendant to do something, and therefore the defendant has to obey to the rules and listen to the court.
Rescission order: Is a court that terminates a contract (cancels the contract).
Restitution: An order from the court saying to the defendant to return the product back to the plaintiff who is the rightful owner.
15. The burden of proof in a civil case.
The Burden of proof in a civil case is the responsibility of proving the disputed charge/claim.
By saying that the person is innocent until proven guilty.
16. The standard of proof in a civil case.
The standard required in a civil case is less strict. A person must only prove that his or hers claims is more probable than not to be successful in a civil action.
17. A general understanding of the broad principles of defamation, nuisance and trespass.
Defemation: Is an written or verbal statement that lowers or puts the persons good reputation down in the eyes of the community.
Nuisance: Theres two types of nuisance; PRIVATE nuisance is an interfere with the right of the person that involves in the community and his homeland. PUBLIC nuisance is an interfere with the rights of the general public; and the main point is to protect the general public from unwarranted disturbances that have been made by the neighbors etc.
Trespass: Trespass is an interfere with a person, land or goods, and is a law dealing with as well.
AREA OF STUDY 3: THE LAW IN FOCUS-CONTRACT LAW
1. The main legal principles of contract law, e.g. intention to create legal relations, invitation to treat, offer, acceptance and
consideration.
A Contract Law is a legal agreement that can be enforced by law.
A Intention to create legal relations is that courts assume that agreements are intended to create legal relationships. Contracts are very important in the world of commence because they form the basis of agreements.
A Invitation to treat is not an offer; it is a communicating that invites offers from parties wishing to enter into a contractual agreement.
A Offer is the first step in reaching an agreement. What is being offered should be clear enough so that the offeree can decide whether to accept or reject the offer.
A Acceptance is the second step, when agreeing to the conditions and accepting what is offered to you by the offeror.
A Consideration is the third, when you consider to pay the money of the item and one party pays to buy the promise of the other party.
2. Express and implied terms of a contract.
An Express term refers to a term the parties have agreed to, either in words writing or both. An Implied term is one that read into a contract by the parties or the courts and it is not expressly made. But the term exists anyways.
AREA OF STUDY 4: A QUESTION OF RIGHTS- MABO CASE
1. The facts of your chosen case.
Australia was claimed as British territory under the name of terra nullius.
Aboriginal people had their own system of land ownership and usage, which developed over tens of thousand of years.
The colonial government believed it owned all of Australia, sold or leased land to white settlers, and did not recognize any indigenous people of their ownership in land.
2. The outcome of your chosen case.
The high court found that Australia had never been terra nullius.
3. Conflicting attitudes in relation to the issues raised in the case.
White settlers had removed most of the rights from indigenous people and had over control of them.
AREA OF STUDY 2: CIVIL LAW AND AREA OF STUDY 2: THE CIVIL LAW IN ACTION.
1. The difference between civil law and criminal law.
Civil law applies to people in the community who had the wrong things such as civil against each other. Criminal law is someone who commits murder, sexual assault and theft etc. It is the law enforced by police.
2. The need for a hierarchy of courts, i.e reasons
In a court hierarchy, different courts have different responsibilities. Lower courts, such as the State Magistrates’ Courts, hear minor or less important cases wheras the higher courts, like State Supreme Courts and the High Court of Australia deal with serious cases. Each Hierarchy Courts deal with all …show more content…
sorts of cases.
3. A general understanding of the doctrine of judicial precedent.
The doctrine of judicial precedent is the Common Law system of rights and duties. Judicial precedent is dealed with the major of case law in the common law system. The doctrine of judicial precedent is based on the principles of stare decisis meaning ‘to stand by what has been decided’, and that legal decisions made by judges in higher or courts or lower courts.
4. The role of rules of evidence and procedure used in our adversary mode of trial, including an evaluation, i.e. strengths versus weaknesses.
Strengths
Testing the person of arguments and finding out the truth. Each side in the court is given the rights to present the evidences and arguments for their case and to ask questions to the opposition through the process of witness being examined in the chief seat.
Providing all the evidences and information for the case.
Weaknesses
The adversary system is slow which means that too many people are denied for too long because the adversary system decides to lengthens the trial process.
The adversary system may cost.
The difficult on understanding the high skilled qualified lawyers that witness may get confused.
5. The role of a jury (if used) in a civil case, including a critical valuation of this role, i.e. strengths and weaknesses, your thoughts and justification for your thoughts.
Strengths
Ordinary people get involved in being the jury.
The jury system has to stay there for a set of time, juries have been used over the 800 years.
Weaknesses
The task is too difficult for ordinary people who need to understand the legal argument.
6. Problems with courts deciding civil matters as compared to tribunals, e.g. the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal deals with a range of disputes involving areas such as discrimination, the purchase and supply of goods, consumer credit, domestic building works, and residential. Courts have difficult deciding the cases because of the amount of procedures and evidences they would have to go through.
7. Know the different methods of dispute resolution, e.g. mediation, conciliation and arbitration.
Mediation: A neutral person called a mediator helps people in dispute to negotiate with each other in order to resolve the dispute.
Conciliation: Those in dispute endeavor to reach an agreement with the advice and assistance of an impartial person called a conciliator.
Arbitration: People in dispute use a formal process whereby they present their case to an arbitrator who is an independent third person. The arbitrator decides the outcome of the case.
8. Judicial determination (courts) of civil disputes, including an evaluation, i.e. strengths and weaknesses.
Strengthes
Makes binding decisions
Decisions more easily enforceable
Weaknesses
High cost of proceedings
Can be traumatic for parties to attend court
Can be long delays
9. A general knowledge of the range of the lists at VCAT
Tribunal’s lists are:
The civil claims list
The residential tenancies list
The domestic building list
10. A general understanding of the process and procedures used by VCAT to resolve a dispute.
Some cases takes 15 minutes to resolve, while others may take a day. The process begins when a user of VCAT’s services files an application with the relevant files.
Many cases proceed to a hearing, hearings give parties the opportunity to call or give evidence, ask questions of witnesses and make submissions than the member of VCAT either gives an decision on the spot or writes up an decision and than delivers the decision as soon as possible.
11.
Know the 3 elements of the civil law of negligence, i.e. duty of care owed, breach of duty and damage as a result of the breach of duty.
Duty of care: It is to maintain and be ensure the safety or well-being of others.
Breach of the duty of care: A person may be liable for negligence in a personal injury case if his breach of duty caused another person’s injuries.
Damage as a result of the breach of duty: The loss or damage suffered by you was caused by the other party’s negligence.
12. A general understanding of the two main cases that developed the law of negligence, Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)- house of lords case and Grant v Australian knitting mills (1936)- high court of Australia case. Know one similarity and one difference between these two cases.
Similarity: The similarities are that both cases talk about something that was involved in the product they have caused from and that the courts have found both cases duty of care meaning that (The snail in the bottle case) the manufacturer could be liable of damages for not selling its products anymore so as (Australian knitting mills) manufacturer have seeked damages as well and that they can no longer sell their garments to there …show more content…
consumers.
Differences: The differences are that; Donoghue couldn’t sued the coffee shop because she wasn’t the person that had purchased the drink, and therefore only the person who had purchased than however can sue in contract law. But, as her friend purchased the drink, Donoghue could not rely on contract law to recover damages.
The other case for A bad itch; is that Grant who had purchased the garments himself, the court had found that Australian knitting Mills had a duty of care to the wearers of its garments.
13. Role of jury in a civil case.
The role of a jury in a civil case is that the judge will draw out 12 cards and it contains the name, home address and occupation of each juror. The plaintiff and defendant than will strike out 3 jurors so than 6 juror’s will be left to hear the case and to decide on it if its either guilty or not. And than they would be identified as numbers.
14. The range of civil remedies and their purposes.
The range of civil remedies and its purposes are:
Damages: The most common remedy and that the actual dollar amount of damages awarded will change according to the circumstances and the injuries the plaintiff had went through.
Injunctions: It’s an order from the court either stopping the defendant from doing something.
Order of specific performance: The court telling the defendant to do something, and therefore the defendant has to obey to the rules and listen to the court.
Rescission order: Is a court that terminates a contract (cancels the contract).
Restitution: An order from the court saying to the defendant to return the product back to the plaintiff who is the rightful owner.
15. The burden of proof in a civil case.
The Burden of proof in a civil case is the responsibility of proving the disputed charge/claim.
By saying that the person is innocent until proven guilty.
16. The standard of proof in a civil case.
The standard required in a civil case is less strict. A person must only prove that his or hers claims is more probable than not to be successful in a civil action.
17. A general understanding of the broad principles of defamation, nuisance and trespass.
Defemation: Is an written or verbal statement that lowers or puts the persons good reputation down in the eyes of the community.
Nuisance: Theres two types of nuisance; PRIVATE nuisance is an interfere with the right of the person that involves in the community and his homeland. PUBLIC nuisance is an interfere with the rights of the general public; and the main point is to protect the general public from unwarranted disturbances that have been made by the neighbors etc.
Trespass: Trespass is an interfere with a person, land or goods, and is a law dealing with as well.
AREA OF STUDY 3: THE LAW IN FOCUS-CONTRACT LAW
1. The main legal principles of contract law, e.g. intention to create legal relations, invitation to treat, offer, acceptance and
consideration.
A Contract Law is a legal agreement that can be enforced by law.
A Intention to create legal relations is that courts assume that agreements are intended to create legal relationships. Contracts are very important in the world of commence because they form the basis of agreements.
A Invitation to treat is not an offer; it is a communicating that invites offers from parties wishing to enter into a contractual agreement.
A Offer is the first step in reaching an agreement. What is being offered should be clear enough so that the offeree can decide whether to accept or reject the offer.
A Acceptance is the second step, when agreeing to the conditions and accepting what is offered to you by the offeror.
A Consideration is the third, when you consider to pay the money of the item and one party pays to buy the promise of the other party.
2. Express and implied terms of a contract.
An Express term refers to a term the parties have agreed to, either in words writing or both. An Implied term is one that read into a contract by the parties or the courts and it is not expressly made. But the term exists anyways.
AREA OF STUDY 4: A QUESTION OF RIGHTS- MABO CASE
1. The facts of your chosen case.
Australia was claimed as British territory under the name of terra nullius.
Aboriginal people had their own system of land ownership and usage, which developed over tens of thousand of years.
The colonial government believed it owned all of Australia, sold or leased land to white settlers, and did not recognize any indigenous people of their ownership in land.
2. The outcome of your chosen case.
The high court found that Australia had never been terra nullius.
3. Conflicting attitudes in relation to the issues raised in the case.
White settlers had removed most of the rights from indigenous people and had over control of them.