Australian Government

 
Instructions to Student Number of Questions: 22

General Instructions: All questions in this assessment must be attempted. Students are required to answer all questions satisfactorily in order to be deemed competent in this unit. Your responses to the questions should be sufficient in word count to demonstrate student understanding of the content.

All information and learning material to assist in completing this assessment can be found via the CONNECT learning platform for the unit BSBLEG413A Identify and apply the legal framework.

In order to provide complete answers to the following questions, you will need to refer to:

Websites/Textbooks/Articles:
• CONNECT materials for BSBLEG413A Identify and apply the legal framework (Sections 1 and 2) and Reading 4 under ‘Other Resources’
• Corkery, JF (2002) Starting Law, 2nd edition, Scribblers Publishing, Mudgeeraba
• Sanson, M, Warswick, D & Anthony, T (2010) Connecting with Law, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, Melbourne
• Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Council (OQPC): http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/OQPChome.htm
• QCAT website: http://www.qcat.qld.gov.au/
• Australian Institute of Criminology website – Evaluation of the Queensland Murri Court: Final Report: http://www.aic.gov.au/ (search for ‘Murri Court’) or download the PDF Report directly: http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/9/C/3/%7B9C3FF400-3995-472B-B442-789F892CFC36%7Dtbp039.pdf
• National Library of Australia, Pandora Trove (Murri Court video): http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/122621/20101001-0802/www.courts.qld.gov.au/4585.html
• Federal Courts website: http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/index.html
• Federal Magistrates Court of Australia website: http://www.fmc.gov.au/
• Family Court of Australia website: http://www.familycourt.gov.au/
• High Court of Australia website: http://www.hcourt.gov.au/

Legislation:
• Justices Act 1886 (Qld)
• Criminal Code (Qld)
• Magistrates Courts Act 1921 (Qld)
• District Court of Queensland Act 1967 (Qld)
• Supreme Court of Queensland Act 1991 (Qld)
• Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Qld)
• Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (Cth) (‘The Constitution’)
• Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)
• Marriage Act 1961 (Cth)
• Federal Magistrates Court Act 1999 (Cth)

PLEASE NOTE: Legislation is accessible from the OQPC website.
Number of Attempts: You will receive up to two (2) attempts at this assessment task. Should your 1st attempt be unsatisfactory (U), your teacher will provide feedback and discuss the relevant questions with you and will arrange a date your 2nd attempt. If your 2nd attempt is unsatisfactory (U), or you fail to attend the scheduled date for a 2nd attempt, you will receive an overall unsatisfactory result for this assessment task. Only one re-assessment attempt may be granted for each assessment task, with the exception of Apprentices or Trainees who are permitted an additional supplementary assessment. For more information, refer to the Student Rules.
Submission Details Insert your details on page 1 and sign the Student Declaration. Include this template with your submission. Ensure you hand to your teacher in class by the due date specified.

You are to answer these questions by submitting your responses on a separate A4 document which clearly marks the question number, the question and your response. This document should also have your student details in the header/footer and be correctly referenced using the Harvard Referencing style.

An example assessment submission layout can be found in the additional resources in CONNECT.
Instructions for the Assessor This assessment consists of 22 short answer questions. Students are required to answer all questions to a satisfactory standard to be successful in this assessment. Assessors are advised to also check CONNECT for this unit to ensure students have sufficiently accessed the online material when answering these questions.

Assessors should also record the submission of the student’s assessment via an assessment submission tracking record.

This assessment covers all three Sections in the learning material available via CONNECT: Section 1: The Australian Legal System, Section 2: Australian Courts and Sources of Law, Section 3: Civil and Criminal Law.
Note to Student An overview of all Assessment Tasks relevant to this unit is located in the Unit Study Guide.

1. Explain the doctrine of separation of powers including a brief description of the role of the three (3) arms of government.
2. Explain the “Rule of Law” principal and discuss how it applies within the Australian Justice system.
3. Identify three (3) legislative powers of both the State and Federal governments respectively. Compare these legislative powers and explain why it is essential for each level of government to have different law making powers.
4. List and briefly discuss two (2) disadvantages of precedent.
5. Discuss the two (2) questions asked by judges to determine whether or not they must follow the decision made in an earlier case and provide two advantages of utilising precedent cases.
Scenario 1

One Saturday evening, before he was arrested on drug possession charges, David ‘Evil’ Keneval (38 years old) was enjoying himself at a BBQ at his neighbour’s house. After a few beers ‘Evil’ decided to enter into a conversation with his neighbour, Jack Green. Keneval and Green began by talking about football however the conversation turned to the question of refugees. The conversation quickly became very heated as Keneval’s father was a refugee and Green was a ‘bogan’ and extremely racist. Green finally lost his temper and yelled to Keneval “you and your lot should go back to where you came from”.

Keneval then lost his temper and retaliated by smashing the top off his VB stubby bottle and glassed Green in the face. The police and an ambulance were called. Green suffered from a large laceration to his right cheek requiring 80 stitches ($1,500 in medical expenses) and was unable to return to work for two months ($8,000 lost wages). He was further devastated when his girlfriend left him due to the hideous injury to his face.

The police subsequently charged Keneval with 1 x Wounding pursuant to s.323(1) of the Criminal Code which states:
(1) A person who unlawfully wounds anyone else commits a misdemeanour.
Maximum penalty – 7 years imprisonment.

Based on the above scenario answer the following questions.
6. Explain two (2) options police have for commencing criminal proceedings against Keneval (bringing him before the court). Discuss which option you would consider is more appropriate and why.

7. Use your knowledge of the criminal justice process to explain the implications of David Kenevel entering a plea of not guilty. Explain the court process Keneval would be subject to if he chose to plead not guilty to the offence. Use the following sub-headings to structure your response.

(a) The relevant steps in the criminal court process (which courts will he appear in and why).

(b) The classification of the offence Keneval is being charged with. (Hint: Is it a crime/misdemeanour/simple offence? Is it indictable/non-indictable?)

(c) Which court has jurisdiction to hear the matter? Explain the steps you took to arrive at your final answer.
8. Use your knowledge of the criminal justice process to discuss three (3) possible court outcomes Keneval may be subject to.
9. Judge Brown heard a matter, similar to Keneval’s two months ago in the matter of R v Jones (2015). In this matter the Judge stated the following:

….Mr Jones, I have taken into consideration all of the mitigating factors, especially your background as a refugee and English as your second language when sentencing you today. However, you still lost your temper and assaulted a man using a beer bottle which resulted in serious injuries to the victim. This is unacceptable in our society and requires an appropriate punishment. As such I am sentencing you to 3 years imprisonment, wholly suspended….

With this case in mind, what do you think Mr Keneval’s sentence should be? Apply the above case to the matter at hand and justify and explain your decision. (5.3) Compare and contrast the decision R v Jones with the current matter in order to recommend an appropriate sentence.
10. Could Green (the victim in this criminal matter) pursue a civil case against Keneval? If so, discuss in detail what kind of civil action could be brought.
11. Compare and contrast the terms an act of ‘battery’ under the law of torts and the act of assault under the criminal law?
12. Compare and contrast the differences between any civil actions Green may pursue and the criminal proceedings instigated by police (outline how civil cases are different from criminal including the onus of proof required for both civil and criminal law).

(a) Which party initiates the proceedings and why?

(b) Who has the burden/onus of proof?

(c) What the standard of proof is for each matter?

13. Discuss at least two (2) advantages of having a court hierarchy.
14. Compare and contrast the QLD Courts in order of hierarchy ensuring that the maximum terms of imprisonment and civil claims amounts are included.
15. Discuss the significance of the following parts of a statute.

(a) Act Number

(b) Definitions

(c) Sections

(d) Chapters
16. Use your knowledge of the law making process to explain the six (6) steps for passing a bill.
17. Discuss each of the following common law statutory interpretations.

(a) Literal Rule

(b) Golden Rule

(c) Mischief Rule (Purposive Approach)
18. Construct a flow chart to illustrate the seven (7) steps a civil proceeding follows through Australia’s civil law system.
19. Recently, the ACT Government introduced a law allowing for marriage for same sex couples. The Commonwealth challenged that legislation.

Discuss how this conflict between the ACT and the Commonwealth legislation was resolved.
20. With reference to Scenario 1 above; the matter has proceeded to trial before a judge and jury. Discuss the role in court proceedings of the parties representing:

(a) the defendant and
(b) the crown

(c) Presuming that the case progressed to a trial before a judge and jury, discuss the role that the judge would play.

21. Discuss the role of precedent in the court’s determination of the matter.
22. With reference to the scenario above; the defendant has now been charged with “grievous bodily harm” instead of “Wounding”.

(a) Where would you find the definition of this term that the court must use?

(b) If the term was not defined in legislation, discuss where else the judge/magistrate may look for guidance when interpreting the meaning of the term and provide the legislative reference that supports this approach?

End of Assessment