Free HSC Year 11 Legal Studies Flashcard Review

Keeping order and safety; resolving disputes peacefully; protecting rights and property; guiding and limiting government (also setting standards and reflecting values).

Equality (equal treatment before the law), access (being able to understand, afford and use the system) and fairness (impartial processes and reasonable outcomes).

The hearing rule (a fair opportunity to know and respond to the case) and the rule against actual or reasonably apprehended bias. The duty and procedures required depend on the legal and factual context.

There are many distinct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations and communities, each with its own languages, Lore and protocols.

Elders maintain and transmit knowledge and Lore and contribute to traditional dispute resolution, according to their community’s practices. Elders and respected community members also participate alongside the judicial officer in NSW Circle Sentencing; this remains a statutory court process.

Overruling rejects an earlier legal rule in a later, different case, by a court with authority to do so. A higher court can overrule a lower court; the High Court can also reconsider its own precedents. Reversing changes the decision under appeal in the same litigation.

First and second readings; detailed consideration if amendments are proposed; third reading. Ordinarily both Houses agree on the same text, followed by the Governor’s assent. Commencement is distinct from assent. Special constitutional procedures can provide exceptions to the ordinary two-House process.

It makes a valid Commonwealth law prevail over an inconsistent state law, which is inoperative to the extent of the inconsistency.

Chapter III strictly separates federal judicial power, supporting judicial independence. State courts are not subject to the same strict separation, but state laws cannot substantially impair their institutional integrity within the Australian judicial system.

A majority of voters nationally and a majority of voters in at least four of the six states.

Through consistent, widespread state practice combined with opinio juris, the belief that the practice is legally required.

The UN Human Rights Committee found Tasmanian laws breached the ICCPR right to privacy; the Commonwealth passed the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994 (Cth).

Identify the required physical elements (actus reus), any fault elements (mens rea), and any causal link required for a prohibited result. The offence’s governing law determines the elements; these are not three universal requirements for every offence.

The prosecution need not prove an intention to speed, but must establish the offence beyond reasonable doubt. An honest and reasonable mistake of fact may provide a defence; merely saying that you did not realise you were speeding does not by itself establish that defence.

Generally the prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Particular defences or statutes may place an evidential or legal burden on the accused; the presumption of innocence does not mean the accused can never bear a burden.

For eligible NSW state-offence trials, section 55F permits 11 of 12 jurors, or 10 of 11, to agree. The court must consider the deliberation period reasonable for the case (at least eight hours) and be satisfied, after examining one or more jurors on oath, that unanimity is unlikely. Eight hours alone is insufficient. Commonwealth jury verdicts require unanimity.

Any four of: adequate punishment, deterrence, community protection, rehabilitation, accountability, denunciation and recognising harm to the victim and community.

There is no automatic right to publicly funded counsel. For a serious charge, a trial should normally be adjourned or stayed where an accused cannot obtain representation through no fault of their own and proceeding would be unfair. The court assesses the circumstances; deliberate unreasonable conduct causing the lack of representation matters.

No. Elements depend on the cause of action: negligence requires duty, breach, causation and damage, while assault, battery and false imprisonment can be actionable without proof of damage. The ordinary civil standard is the balance of probabilities.

In mediation a neutral person helps the parties reach their own agreement; in arbitration the third party makes a decision that may be binding.