HEAD START PROGRAM

UNIT 3 LEGAL STUDIES

MS. MANSON CONTACT DETAILS

• Staffroom: Commerce 2 (opposite Room 23)

• Email: manson.elyse.e@edumail.vic.gov.au

All school rules apply in this classroom, in particular:• Punctuality, preparedness, respect, effort all the time!• All set homework is to be completed and graded

- 0,1,2 marking scale • No phones or iPods, MP3s etc.• Lateness• Absences• Email etiquette• Water bottles• Use of planner• Lining up

EXPECTATIONS

Please introduce yourself with:• Your name• Something you like to do/eat that also

begins with the first letter of your name• The reason you chose to study Legal

Studies next year or what you are hoping to learn about in the subject

CLASS INTRODUCTION

• Handout 1: Unit 3 Legal Studies student check list

AREAS OF STUDY

• Area of Study 1: Parliament and the citizen• Area of Study 2: The Constitution and the

protection of rights• Area of Study 3: Role of the courts in law-

making

• The main focus in Unit 3 is on principles of the Australian parliamentary system, changing the law, the Constitution, and the relationship between courts and parliament in law-making

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• You will need to purchase the text book that is required for this subject –

Justice and Outcomes (12th edition) by Beazer, Humphreys and Filippin

• To satisfy the requirements of this course you will need to complete all coursework (including homework) and SAC tasks

REQUIREMENTS (CONTINUED)

In Unit 3 Legal Studies you will need:• A well-organised work book and loose leaf paper

to submit work in on• To maintain and keep all class notes • If you are absent you will need to catch up on

what you have missed – it is your responsibility to contact your teacher in person or via email• To complete all homework consistently as this will

be part of your assessment

REQUIREMENTS (CONTINUED)

You will also need to keep up to date with parliamentary, criminal law and civil law issues in the media, by frequently utilising and interacting with:• newspapers• news programs• internet sites of relevance etc.

• Commence a revision/homework timetable that you stick to – a good website to use is VCEhelp.com.au

ASSESSMENT 2013

• Handout 2: Assessment 2013

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

• You will all need to maintain a glossary of legal terms that will act as a dictionary for you

• Do not just copy the terms from the text book. When you come across a new legal term you will need put this term into your own words as much as possible

• Handout 3: Glossary instructions• Handout 4: Essential terminology

TASK WORDS

• Remember these? See Handout 5: Key task words

• It is very important that you carefully read and answer the question; don’t simply write everything you know about the topic

e.g. ‘describe one aim of criminal sanctions’ is asking something very different to ‘evaluate the effectiveness of one aim of criminal sanctions’

LETS START!

• Complete the revision of Unit 1 questions to find out what you know already:

1. What are the differences between legal and non-legal rules?

2. List 3 main differences (and discuss)

3. WHY DO WE HAVE LAWS?

TO:• Provide social cohesion and reflect values of the

majority• Provide a code of acceptable behaviour• Protect individual rights• Provide mechanisms for resolving disputes• Change to meet changing values and needs

4. HOW DO WE CLASSIFY LAWS?

• 1. Statute law and Common law- what is the difference?

• 2. Criminal law and Civil law- what is the difference?

• These are the major two classifications but there are others

• Handout 6: The classification of laws

5. CRIMINAL LAW VS. CIVIL LAW

• Criminal law deals with acts or omissions that offend against an existing law, it is harmful to an individual or society and is punishable by law

• Civil law relates to disputes between 2 parties and involves one party’s rights having been infringed and that party seeks a remedy

6. WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF LAW?

• Statute law is made by parliament and subordinate bodies

• Common law is made by the courts

7. WHO ARE THE LAW-MAKING BODIES?

• Who makes laws?• Parliament - Commonwealth and State

• What are the other law-making bodies?• Subordinate authorities (through delegated legislation)

and the courts (through the doctrine of precedent)

• What is a government?• The party/ies that win the most seats in the lower house

of parliament

8. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE STATE AND COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTS?

• Structure• Government• Law-making powers• House names

• Handout 7: An introduction to parliament in Australia

WEEBLY WEBSITE

rsclegal.weebly.com

• Ch 1 of textbook • Handouts • Email access• Holiday homework

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• You will need to purchase the text book that is required for this subject:

- Justice and Outcomes (12th edition) by Beazer, Humphreys and Filippin • Supplementary text:- Legal Notes: Units 3&4

• To satisfy the requirements of this course you will need to complete all coursework (including homework) and SAC tasks

9. WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTION?• Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900

(UK)

10. Why is it important?

• It established the framework for our parliamentary system, including the structure and powers.

11. What is a Constitutional Monarchy?• The Queen is the head of State and our parliament is

governed by a constitution

12. Define Democracy• Members of parliament who are voted into office by the

people

13. What is a Republic?• The head of state would be voted and not appointed

MATCH THE TERMS

• As a pre-test to the learning of the structure and role of parliament as a law maker, we will match some key terms

• Work in pairs to match the terms correctly

• Handout 8: Matching terms

THE AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

• The Australian system is based on the Westminster System (named after the British Parliament)

• This basic system was adopted by Australia via the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK)

• The basic element is that we have a Parliament and the Monarch is the Head of State

WHAT IS PARLIAMENT?

• http://www.peo.gov.au/multimedia/video/whatIsParliament/transcript.html

INVESTIGATION TASK

Using the PEO web site @ http://www.peo.gov.au/index.html and Handout 9: Mind-map -

• Research the terms on the handout and then create an annotated mind map giving an overview of the structure of the Australian Parliamentary system

• You must show and briefly explain how you believe each of the features/bodies interact

• This work will need to be submitted

AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

Handout 10: Australian parliamentary system

• Responsible government

• Representative government

• Separation of powers

• Queen as head of state

• Parliament has 2 houses (bicameral)

PRINCIPLE 1

Representative Government: this refers to?

• A government that represents the views of the majority of people• The government is chosen by the people• Regular election are held, so people can vote • If the government does not represent the people,

it will be voted out at the next election

PRINCIPLE 2

Responsible Government: this refer to?

• This refers to the government’s responsibility to the people• They are answerable and accountable to

parliament, and therefore to the people• Ministers are appointed and are answerable for

their actions

THE PRINCIPLE OF RESPONSIBLE GOVT

• Ministers are responsible and must explain actions in parliament (ministerial accountability)• Ministers responsible for the actions of their

department• Other MP’s can question the Minister’s and

department’s actions• Minister must have integrity or resign• If the Minister loses support of the lower house

then they must resign (are therefore responsible to the people)

PRINCIPLE 3

Separation of Powers refers to?

• This principle underpins our parliamentary system• It refers to 3 separate powers, each power is to

be held by a separate body, to ensure no one body has absolute power

ELEMENTS OF THE SOP

There are 3 aspects of the separation of powers:

1. Legislative Power: the power to make laws, this power is held by the parliament

2. Executive Power: the power to administer laws and manage the business of government• Under the constitution the executive powers are

given to the Governor-General; in practice it is carried out by the prime minister and senior ministers• The executive is accountable to the legislative

body

3. Judicial power: this power is given to the courts and tribunals to enforce the law and settle disputes

WHERE DID THE SEPARATION COME FROM?

• In 1748 Montesquieu (a French philosopher) thought that this separation was important• If one body had all the powers then abuse could

occur

THEORY VERSUS PRACTICE

The first 2 powers are linked but the Judicial power is separate and independent

• All three powers are separate in theory but in practice, the powers of the legislature and executive are combined• The GG is part of the executive and also part of

the structure of parliament (Legislative)• The PM and cabinet are part of the executive and

also part of parliament (Legislative)

• So in practice, the cabinet has the power to administer the law (but in theory it is the executive)• The PM (not the GG ) is the head of the Executive

(but in theory the GG is the Head)• All laws must receive Royal Assent (given by GG)

So the 2 powers are very closely linked. The lines are quite blurred in practice

THE JUDICIAL FUNCTION

• The Legislative and Judicial powers must be kept separate

• The courts must remain free from political influence to ensure corruption is not part of the system

WHY DO WE HAVE THE SEPARATION OF POWERS?

• To ensure checks and balances (checks on parliament to ensure it doesn’t go beyond its power)• Independence in the system• Protects stability of government• The body who makes the law is separate from the

body who enforces the law

PRINCIPLE 4

The role of the Crown: What/ who is the Crown?

The Governor-General at Commonwealth level and the Governor at State level

The Queen or Monarch’s representative Holds the Executive power Is appointed by Queen (on the advice of the PM) The Governor-General’s main responsibility is to ensure that

the democratic system operates effectively. This requires an effective electoral system, parliament, government and courts. It is also essential that the majority of people are confident that their community functions as a democracy

ROLE OF THE CROWN

The role of the Governor-general of Australia includes:- acting as head of state- performing duties of the executive council, including giving royal assent to

bills before they become law and making regulations under acts of parliament

- has the power to withhold assent (Governors of the States no long have this power due to the Australia Act 1986 (Cth.))

- designating the times for parliamentary sessions- bringing a session of parliament to an end and dissolving the House of

Representatives to bring about an election- appointing judges to the courts- exercising reserve powers — these can be exercised with or without

ministerial advice and, although not listed anywhere, include the power to appoint a prime minister if an election has resulted in a ‘hung parliament’, the power to dismiss a prime minister who has lost the confidence of the parliament or who is acting unlawfully, and the power to refuse to dissolve the House of Representatives despite a request from the prime minister.

RESERVE POWERS

• Reserve powers are powers that date back to when the Monarch had many powers• Gives them the power to dismiss a government,

but is rarely exercised• In 1975 the GG dismissed the Whitlam

government• Executive council: the GG is responsible for

making delegated legislation. They do this whilst acting in council with the relevant ministers

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

• The GG or Government is responsible for making delegated legislation• Delegated legislation (subordinate legislation) is

when rules and regulations are made by government departments and other government bodies e.g. Vic Roads• Some Acts of parliament give power to other

bodies to make rules and regulations to Executive council

THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THE CROWN

Crown

Crown’s Representative Executive function

Royal Assent Reserve powers

PRINCIPLE 5

Structure of State and Commonwealth Parliaments

BICAMERAL SYSTEM

• Each of the Commonwealth and state parliaments (except QLD) have 2 houses of parliament

• Many argue that Australia is over-governed; that is, that we have too many parliaments and there have been suggestions that we should abolish the State parliaments and instead have regional governments

The role played by the Houses of Parliament• Cabinet, Parliament and Government- What are

the differences?• Prime Minister, Premier, ministers – what are the

differences?

• Cabinet – the PM and senior ministers decide on government policy. This is how proposed laws (bills) are formulated

• Parliament – the supreme law- making body, all members are part of this body. This also includes the Crown

• Government – the political party/ies that has the majority of members in the lower house. The party that loses the election is the Opposition

THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT: FEDERAL AND STATE

• What are the features of each?• What are the roles of each?• How effective are each?

THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THE UPPER AND LOWER HOUSES

Roles and functions of Upper and Lower houses

Senate: role as States House: Senate: role as a House of Review

Role of House of Reps as “people’s house”- Role of House of Reps as a law maker:

HOLIDAY HOMEWORK• Read Ch.1 of textbook (available

at rsclegal.weebly.com)

• Complete Learning Activities:- 1.1 p. 10 Qs 1-6- 1.2 p. 17 Qs 1-7- 1.3 p. 20 Qs 1-4- 1.4 p. 23 Qs 1-6- 1.6 p. 28 Qs 1-6

• Handout 10: Australian parliamentary system

• Handout 11: The reasons laws may need to change

• Handout 12: ‘Time for gay marriage to get the nod in Australia’