TCE Legal Studies past exams 2021–2025, by year and topic

The rest of the syllabus

Question-level mapping for these areas is still being verified. Every official paper covering them is in the year table above.

• Part 1 — Westminster Parliamentary System of Government — Principles of a liberal democracy: legitimate authority, separation of powers, rule of law, human rights, procedural fairness, pluralism · Constitutional monarchy: constitutional conventions, the Prime Minister and Cabinet responsible to the lower House · Separation of powers in Australia: overlap between executive and legislature, independence of the judiciary · Rule of law in Australia · Representative and responsible government · Bicameral parliament: House of Representatives as the 'People's House', Senate as the 'States House' and a house of review
• Part 2 — Australian Federal Constitutional Government — Main features of the federal system: shared sovereignty, exclusive/concurrent/residual powers, the High Court's interpretive role · High Court interpretation altering the division of power (s51(xxix), s109; Tasmanian Dams Case, Croome v Tasmania) · Judgments favouring Commonwealth power (First Uniform Tax Case s51(ii); Roads Case s96) · Referral of powers under s51(xxxvii) (e.g. Criminal Code Amendment (Terrorism) Act 2003; Family Law (Amendment) Act 1987) · Referendums: the 1967 referendum (successful) and 1999 referendum (unsuccessful) · Status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution: exclusion at Federation, the 1967 referendum, Native Title Act 1993, Uluru Statement from the Heart, 2023 Voice referendum, state-level reforms
• Part 3 — Australian and International Law — Customary law: characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customary laws; impact of terra nullius · Statute law: initiating, drafting and passing a bill; roles of parliament and cabinet; advantages and limitations · Common law: Tasmanian and Commonwealth court hierarchies; doctrine of precedent; judges' law-making role · Law reform: law reform bodies (ALRC, TLRI), Royal Commissions, parliamentary committees, statutory authorities, individuals through the courts, interest/lobby groups · International law through one theme (climate change, human rights, migration and refugees, or international conflict): differences from Australian law, why states obey it, how it is enforced
• Work Requirement — Topical Legal Issue (examined with Part 3 in Section B, Criterion 5) — TASC's published list of Topical Legal Issues for the year (2026: five issues, published by end of February 2026) · Explaining and evaluating the legal and political processes and institutions relevant to reforming or implementing the law in the chosen issue · Identifying differing legal and political views held by named groups or individuals · Drawing on at least two Part 3 areas within the Section B essay
• Part 4 — Dispute Resolution: Civil and Criminal — Adversary trial: purpose, features (contest, impartial adjudicator, party control, rules of evidence and procedure, single event, role of the jury), advantages and limitations · Alternative dispute resolution: negotiation and settlement, mediation, tribunals, conciliation and arbitration, restorative justice, ombudsman · Crime and criminal procedure: mens rea, actus reus, strict/absolute liability; summary versus indictable offences · Safeguards for the accused: police procedures, bail, preliminary proceedings, onus and standard of proof, presumption of innocence, jury challenges and appeals; rights of accused, victim and community · Sentencing in Tasmania: laws regulating sentencing (Sentencing Act 1997 (Tas)), purposes, principles and factors, sentencing options and reforms