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UTS:LawGuidetoWrittenCommunication

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GuidetoWrittenCommunication‐version1,2014

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UTS:LAWGUIDETOWRITTENCOMMUNICATION

Contents

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................5

WritingandUTS:Law:WhyaGuidetoWrittenCommunication?...........................................6

AustralianGuidetoLegalCitation(3rded)......................................................................................6

AcademicResponsibility........................................................................................................................7

PlagiarismandAcademicwriting...................................................................................................................8

Readingskills:anessentialpartofgoodwriting.............................................................10

Howtomanagetheamountofreadingyoumustdo.................................................................10

Readstrategically...............................................................................................................................................10

Comprehendingwhatyouread,connectingideasandrecognisingarguments......................14

Writing.............................................................................................................................................16

Somebasicrulesofacademicwriting.............................................................................................17

TheImportanceofPlainEnglish.......................................................................................................17

PlainEnglishresources....................................................................................................................................18

Expressingyouropinion......................................................................................................................18

Writingyourfirstdraft.........................................................................................................................18

Structuringwrittenwork.....................................................................................................................19

Headingsandsub‐headings...........................................................................................................................19

Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................20

Body.........................................................................................................................................................................21

Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................................23

Writingaboutcases...............................................................................................................................24

Referringtojudicialofficers..........................................................................................................................24

Writingaboutlegislation.....................................................................................................................26

Referringtoauthors..............................................................................................................................27


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Quotes.........................................................................................................................................................27

Ellipses....................................................................................................................................................................29

Citation.......................................................................................................................................................30

Footnotes...............................................................................................................................................................30

Shorttitles/abbreviatingnames..................................................................................................................32

Cases........................................................................................................................................................................33

Decisionsoftribunalsandother‘court‐like’bodies............................................................................39

Statutesanddelegatedlegislation..............................................................................................................39

Secondaryresources.........................................................................................................................................44

Books.......................................................................................................................................................................45

Chaptersinbooks...............................................................................................................................................46

Journalarticles....................................................................................................................................................48

Internetresources.............................................................................................................................................50

Reviewingandediting..........................................................................................................................50

WordLimits..............................................................................................................................................51

Grammar....................................................................................................................................................51

Useofthepassive...............................................................................................................................................52

Useoffirst(I/me/us/we)andsecond(you)person...........................................................................53

Punctuation..............................................................................................................................................54

Fullstops................................................................................................................................................................54

Commas,colonsandsemicolons................................................................................................................54

Ampersands..........................................................................................................................................................55

Apostrophes.........................................................................................................................................................55

Spelling.......................................................................................................................................................57

Macquariedictionary........................................................................................................................................58

There–they’re–their......................................................................................................................................58

Its–it’s....................................................................................................................................................................58


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Spellchecking......................................................................................................................................................59

Beware!Autocorrectandlegalterms.......................................................................................................59

Additionalresourcesonpunctuation,grammarandstyle......................................................60

Numbers,datesandcurrency............................................................................................................60

Numbers.................................................................................................................................................................60

Dates........................................................................................................................................................................61

Currency.................................................................................................................................................................61

Formatting................................................................................................................................................62

Whatmarkersarelookingfor.................................................................................................64

Specificassignmenttypes.........................................................................................................65

Researchessays.......................................................................................................................................65

Whatare‘criticalskills’inaresearchessay?..........................................................................................65

Stepstowritingaresearchessay................................................................................................................66

Planyourresponse............................................................................................................................................66

Researchthetopic..............................................................................................................................................67

Makethoroughnotes........................................................................................................................................68

Writethefirstdraft...........................................................................................................................................70

Reviewandedityourwork............................................................................................................................70

ProblemQuestions.................................................................................................................................71

Stepstowritingananswertoaproblemquestion..............................................................................71





IRAC.........................................................................................................................................................................75


Casenotes..................................................................................................................................................80


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Elementsofacasenote....................................................................................................................................80

Stepstowritingaresearchessay................................................................................................................82






ReflectiveWriting...................................................................................................................................86

Exams..........................................................................................................................................................87

Writingstrategies..............................................................................................................................................87

Essayquestions...................................................................................................................................................88

Practise,practise,practise..............................................................................................................................88

E‐mailcommunication..........................................................................................................................89


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Introduction

Clearandconcisewrittencommunicationiscriticalforlawyers.Alllawgraduatesmust

developanddemonstratestrongspokenandwrittencommunicationskillstoinform

andpersuadedifferentaudiences.CommunicationisoneofthesixLearningOutcomes

(graduatesattributes)UTS:Lawstudentspossessbythetimetheycompletetheir

degrees.CommunicationskillsalsounderpinallLearningOutcomes.Throughoutyour

degreeyoureffectivenessasawriterandathinkerwillbeassessedinformallythrough

yourwritingforlearningactivities,andformallyinassessmenttasksandexams.Allthe

writingyoudoaspartofyourcoursewillprovidevaluabletrainingforthedemands

thatwillbemadeonyouasapractisinglawyer.

UTS:Lawiscommittedtohelpingallstudentsachievehighstandardsofprofessional

communication.Theaimofthisguideistoanswersomeofthequestionsandaddress

someofthecommonissuesthatariseaboutthenatureofacademicandlegalwriting

forstudentsstudyinglaw.Theguideprovidesinformationabouttheprocessofwritten

legalcommunication.Itthereforecovers:researching,readingandunderstanding

assessmenttasks;aswellaswritingandreferencingaccuratelyusingthefootnoting

systemrecommendedbytheAustralianGuidetoLegalCitation(AGLC).Thisguide

hasincorporatedfeedbackfromteachersandstudentstomakeitrelevanttoboth

undergraduateandpost‐graduatelawstudents.Wewishyougreatsuccesswithyour

writingduringyourcourseatUTS:Lawandbeyond.

BronwynOlliffe

AssociateDean(TeachingandLearning)

UTS:Law


6

WritingandUTS:Law:WhyaGuidetoWritten

Communication?

Writtenassignmentsformasignificantpartofstudents’assessmentforaUTS:Law

degree.Studentsareexpectedtowritewellstructuredandconvincinglyarguedessays;

respondtoproblemquestionsonpointsoflaw;andwriteclearcasenotes.Students

alsoneedtowriteessaysandanswerproblemquestionsinexams.

Lawyersproduceawidediversityofwrittenworkbeyondthetasksreferredtoabove.

Althoughthisguidedoesnotcovereverytypeofdocumentyoumayneedtowrite

(suchasletterstoclientsandfilenotes),thereading,writingandreasoningskillsyou

developwhilecompletingassessmenttasksthroughoutyourcoursewillbeof

invaluableassistanceinyourprofessionallife.Thisguidewillprovideabasic

understandingofthosewritingconventions.

Forpostgraduatestudentswhomayhavealreadydevelopedsoundwritingskills,legal

writingisoftendifferenttootherdisciplines,andthisGuideisausefulresourcefor

developingwritingskillsforalegalprofessionalandfordevelopingaprofessional

identityasalawyer.

AustralianGuidetoLegalCitation(3rded)

WhilestudyinglawatUTSyouwillbeexpectedtoproperlyciteauthoritytosupport

yoursuppositionsoflawandproperlyreferenceotherpeople’sworkwhenadoptingor

discussingtheirideas.UTS:Lawstudentsareexpectedtoadoptthestyleoflegalwriting

foundintheAustralianGuidetoLegalCitation(3rded)(‘AGLC’),whichispublished

bytheMelbourneUniversityLawReview.

ThemostrecentversionoftheAGLCisfoundat:

http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/mulr/aglc

TheAGLCcanbedownloadedtothedesktopbutitcannotbeprintedoff.Itisimportant

tobecomefamiliarwiththeAGLCasitcoversallthedifferenttexttypesyoumay

encounterandwillneedtoreferenceinyourwritingthroughoutyourdegree.For

example,youwillneedknowhowtoreference:


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cases

legislation

journalarticles(bothonlineandprint)

websites

books

Includedinthisguideisanoverviewofhowtocitetheabovesources.Thisinformation

hasbeenadaptedfromtheAGLCinordertoshowhowcitationsareconstructed,but

yourfirstpointofreferenceforallcitationswillbetheAGLC.

AcademicResponsibility

Beingpartoftheacademiccommunityinvolvesrespectingtheopinionsandarguments

ofotherpeople.Yourworkwillrely,inpart,ontheresearchthathascomebeforeyou

byothersinyourfield.Correctlyacknowledgingtheworkofothersinyourwritingisa

requirementforallofyourwriting.

Referencing,andaccuratecitationsareextremelyimportantinacademicandlegal

writing.Thereasonsforthisare:

Inanylegalwritingastatementoflawmustbesupportedbycitingalegal

authority,suchasastatute,aregulation,acaseoranyotherauthoritative

text.

Whenwritinginanacademiccontextitisexpectedthatevidencewillbe

providedtosupportarguments,aswellastobuilduponrelevantprevious

workinthearea.Thisisdonebyreferringtotheliteratureinawaythat

provideslinkstoevidenceandcleardirectionsforthosethatwishtofollow

these.

Theworkofothersmustbeacknowledged.InAustralianacademiccultureit

isconsideredwrongtoappropriatesomeoneelse’sopinionwithoutproperly

acknowledgingthesource(thisisknownasplagiarismandisdealtwith

veryseriouslybytheUniversity).


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PlagiarismandAcademicwriting

Partofyourresponsibilityasamemberofthescholarlycommunityistoaccurately

acknowledgetheworkofothers.Asalawstudent,knowinglyplagiarisingandthereby

infringingtheserulescanhaveanimpactonyourprofessionallife.Plagiarismis

academicmisconduct.Whenlawstudentsapplytobeadmittedtopractiselaw,thereis

arequirementthatpastconduct,includingacademicmisconduct,bedisclosed.

Acknowledgingsourcescorrectlyisanextremelyimportantpartofacademicandlegal

writing.Forinformationregardingacademicmisconductandwhatconstitutes

plagiarisminthelawfacultygotothefacultywebsite:

http://www.uts.edu.au/current‐students/current‐students‐information‐faculty‐

law/assessment

Itisveryimportantthatyoureadandunderstandtheinformationonplagiarism.

TherearepenaltiesforplagiarismandotherformsofcheatingsetoutintheUniversity

Calendar.

Formoreinformationonthedefinitionofplagiarismandhowtoavoidit,pleasereferto

theUniversity’s‘AvoidingPlagiarism’websiteandtutorials:

http://www.ssu.uts.edu.au/helps/resources/plagiarism/

*Notethatthecitationexampleson‘AvoidingPlagiarism’websitearenotintheAGLC

style.TheUniversityCalendarcanbefoundhere:

http://www.uts.edu.au/about/uts‐governance/official‐publications/uts‐calendar

Thelibraryhasaverywidecollectionofexcellentlawrelatedresourcestohelpyou

withyourresearchandwriting,includinglawdatabases,lawstudyguidesandpast

exampapersonitswebsite:http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/students/my‐subject‐

resources/study‐guides/law

TheUTSLibrarywebsitealsoprovidesinformationandworkshopsaboutusing

Endnote,freebibliographicsoftwareyoucanusetomanageyourreferencingand

footnotesthroughoutyourcourse.AtUTSthelegalreferencingstyleavailableforuse

withEndNoteisAGLC(UTS).ThisstyleisbasedontheAGLC.

Findoutaboutendnoteonthelibrary‘swebsiteat:


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http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/help/referencing

HELPS(Highereducationlanguage&presentationsupport)

UTSiscommittedtodevelopingandsupportingstudents'Englishlanguageproficiencythroughouttheircoursesofstudy.

HELPSisafreestudentservicethatprovidesEnglishlanguageandacademicliteracysupporttoUTSstudentsinvariousways,includingworkshops,one‐on‐oneconsultationsandresources.

HELPSsupportsstudentsintheirwritingandpresentationskills.

Visitthewebsiteathttp://cfsites1.uts.edu.au/ssu/staff/helps.cfm.


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Readingskills:anessentialpartof

goodwriting

Goodwritingskillscanbelearntfromreadingwidely.Oneofthebestformsof

preparationforacademicandlegalwritingistoreadpublishedarticlesinrefereed

journalsandmoderncaselaw.Thisenablesreaderstobecomefamiliarwiththestyle

andstructurethatarecommoninmostacademicwriting.

Itisessentialtoreadarticlesthataredirectlyrelatedtoyouressaytaskorresearch

questionfortwopurposes:

togaininsightsintotheopinionsandreasonsfortheopinionsofotherscholars;

and

tolearnfromtheirwriting–tolookatthestructureoftheintroduction,howthe

purposeisstated,theuseofsubheadings,thesequenceofreasonsinan

argument,thestructureoftheconclusion.

Beforelookingathowtowriteforassessmentinlaw,itisimportanttolearntobe

selectiveaboutwhat–andhow–toreadduringyourlawdegree.

Howtomanagetheamountofreadingyoumustdo

Thestudyoflawinvolvesalotofreading.Oftenstudentscanfeeloverwhelmed

bytheamountofreadingtheymustdo.Thisraisestwoparticularproblems:the

volumeofreadingthatwillhavetobedoneandunderstandingwhatisread.

Readstrategically

Selectyourreadingscarefully.Sometimesitisjustnotpossible–ornecessary–toread

everysinglewordinyourtextbook,oranentirecase.Nordoyouhavetoreadinfull

everytextbookorcasethatismentionedbyyourlecturerorlistedasa‘recommended

reading’inyoursubjectmaterials.

Thefollowingaresometipsthatmayhelpyoutoreadstrategically.


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Whattoread

Youshouldensurethatyoureadthefollowinginfull:

theessentialreadingslistedinyoursubjectoutlinesorsupplementarymaterials

leadingcasesrelevanttothesubjectyouarestudying.Oftentheseare

specificallylistedoremphasisedinyoursubjectoutlinesorsupplementary

materials.Lecturerswilloftenclearlyflagacasethatisveryimportant.

Youcanbemoreselectivewithothermaterials.Oftensubjectoutlinesand

supplementarymaterialsprovidelistsofrecommendedreadingsthatcanbeusedto

augmentyouressentialreadings.

Howtoreadstrategically

Sometimesthevolumeofessentialreadingscanseemoverwhelming.Itisnot

uncommonforessentialreadingstoconsistofmultiplechaptersperweekfromatext

bookofseveralhundredpages,oraleadingcasethatisseveralhundredpageslong.

Thekeytoreadingthesestrategically,istolookforlinguisticsignpostsinthetextthat

directyoutothemostrelevantsections.Goodwritersusesignpoststoguidetheir

readers.

Howcanyouevaluatetherelevanceofanarticle,chapterorcase,toyourpurpose?

Readtheabstract(articles)orheadnote(cases).Thiswillgiveyouabrief

overviewofthemainissuesaddressedinthetext.

Readtheintroduction–identifythetopic,purpose,scope,background(not

necessarilyinthisorder).

Scananyheadingsandsub‐headings.

Scanthetopicsentencesofeachintroductoryparagraph.

Readtheconclusion/s.

Ifyouarereadingacase,startfirstwiththemajorityjudgments.

Textbooksalwayshaveatableofcontentsatthefrontofthebookandanindex

ofsubjectsattheback.Usebothtolocateexactlywhereinthebookyouneedto

read.


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However,eventhoughitisbettertoreadstrategicallythantoreadredundantmaterial,

studyinlawdoesrequirealotofreadingandsometimes,forafullunderstandingofthe

principles,youwillneedtoreadtheentirecaseortheentirechapteroryouneedto

readthematerialseveraltimestounderstanditscontent.Thisisamatterofjudgment

andyouwillbecomebetteratchoosingthemostrelevantmaterialsasyouprogress.

Example

Readthesampletextbelow.Itistakenfromapeerreviewedjournalarticle.Itis

writtenwithclearsignpostingshowing:

o strongtopicsentence

o focusandscope

o organisationofideas

o well‐definedposition/argument.

Itwillbeseenthataquickglanceovertheintroduction,notingthesignposting

providedbytheauthor,givesyouanideaofthecontentofthearticle.Ifyouwere

assessingwhetheritisanarticleworthreadinginsupportofyourstudies,youcansee

howyoucanquicklyevaluatewhetheritwouldbeworthwhiletoreadtheentiretext.

! Note:Sectionsofthetextareboldedtoshowyousignpostinglanguage,donotusebold

whenyouarewritingassessmenttasks

ContractualGoodFaith:CanAustraliaBenefitFromTheAmericanExperience?

Introduction

Theexistenceandenforceabilityofcontractualgoodfaithobligationsseemless

indoubtinAustraliathaneverbefore.Recentdecisionsindifferentjurisdictions

revealanincreasingtrendforcourtstorecogniseandupholdexpressobligations

andimpliedobligationsofgoodfaith.Whiletherehasbeenagreateracceptance

ofexpressandimpliedgoodfaithobligations,thereisstillsomeuncertaintyasto

themeaningof'goodfaith'andtheactualcontentoftheobligationinany

context.Thisarticleconsidersthedifferentmeaningsgivento'goodfaith'in

Australia,andcomparesthosewith'goodfaith'injurisdictionsintheUSA, Focusandscope

Strongtopic

sentence


13

whichhasincorporatedgoodfaithincontractlawforsometime,bothat

commonlawandthroughcodification,suchastheUniformCommercialCode.

SomeAustralianjudgeshavetriedtobolstertheirdecisionsforincorporating

goodfaithbyreferencetotheAmericanexperience.Thisarticleconsidersthe

usethatisbeingmadeofAmericancases,andthenconsidersthevarious

meaningsof'goodfaith'usedinAmericaandAustralia.Itreasonsthat

AustralianlawwillnotbenefitsignificantlyfromtheAmericanexperience,and

goesontoarguethatthebestmeaningof'goodfaith'is'honesty'andisinherent

incontractprinciplesgenerally.Mostoften,'goodfaith'willbeseeninthe

processofconstruction.

UseofAmericanExperienceinAustralianDecisions

ItisgenerallythoughtthatthedecisionofPriestleyJAinRenardConstructions

(ME)PtyLtdvMinisterforPublicWorksstartedthedevelopmentofgoodfaithin

contractualperformanceinAustralia.Inhisjudgment,PriestleyJAspends

considerabletimediscussingthepositionintheUSA,includingtheUCC.Since

then,othercourtshaveoftenapprovedPriestleyJA'sdiscussionoraddedfurther

referencestoAmericancases.…………………………………………………….1

Readinginpreparationforanassignment

Ifyouarereadinginpreparationforanassignment,makeacarefulanalysisofthetopic

setforyourassignmentandcontinuallyconsidertherelevanceofthematerialyouare

readingtothattopic.

Beawareofthedistinctionbetween:

primarysourcesoflaw(statutes,regulationsandcasereports)theseare(your)

foundationresources;

1ElisabethPeden"ContractualGoodFaith:CanAustraliaBenefitfromtheAmericanExperience?,"

(2003)15BondLawReview186

Organisationofideas

Well‐definedposition/argument

Sub‐headingsclearlyindicatewhatisbeingdiscussedandwhere.


14

secondarysourcesoflaw–journalarticles,booksandotherpublications

(secondarymaterialiscommentaryupontheprimarymaterialsuchastext

booksorjournalarticleswhichwriteaboutthelaw).

Comprehendingwhatyouread,connectingideasandrecognising

arguments.

Beinganactivereadermeansreadingwithaclearpurposeinmind,thinkingaboutwhy

youhavebeenaskedtodothereadingandhowitrelatestoyoursubjecttopics.

Askyourself:

Whyyouhavebeenaskedtoreadacertaincase(chapter,article,extract)?

Whatisthetopicorlegalprincipleyouarecurrentlystudying?

Whataretheobjectivesofthistopic?

Whatareyoumeanttohaveachievedintermsoflearningobjectivesbythetime

youhavecompletedthistopic?

Aretherediscussionstarterquestionssetbyyourlecturerthatcanframethe

reading?

Learntoidentify:

thewriter'sarguments

thereasoningofthedecision

theprinciplesrelieduponbyjudgeorauthor

thedifferencesinpointsofviewbetweenoneauthorandanotherandbetween

onejudgeandanother.Inyourwritingyouwillbeexpectedtoattemptto

articulatethosedifferences,andeitherreconcilethemorsupportoneview

againstanother.

Learntoevaluatetheauthorityofthetext

Askyourself:

Whatistheauthorityofthistext?

ShouldIgiveitmuch‘weight’?


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Forexampleamagazinearticlemaynothavethesameauthorityasalegalcasebook

whichcontainscommentaryonlegalmaterials.Adecisionbyasinglejudgesittingina

foreignjurisidictionwillgenerallynotbeaspersuasiveasaunanimousdecisionofthe

HighCourtofAustralia.

Learntoreadcritically

Youshouldnotuncriticallyacceptapointofvieworpieceofinformationjustbecauseit

isstatedinabookorarticle.

Askyourselfthesequestions:

Istheargumentjustifiedinthelightofthesourcematerial?

Hasitbeenrenderedobsoletebylaterresearchorlaw?

Ifreadingjudgments,considerwhethertheratioofthecaseisconsistentwith

otherdecidedauthorityandwithlogic.

Itisessentialthatyouarecapableofanalysingonitsmeritsanyinformationor

contentionputtoyou,inthecontextofthesourcesfromwhichitisdrawn,andthen

formyourownopinionastowhetheritisavalidandsustainableargument.

Dealingwithdifficulttexts

Specialisedtextbooks:ifatextistoodenseortherearetoomanyconceptsyouare

unfamiliarwith,gobacktobasicsandlookatamoregeneralisedtextbookonthe

subjectthatmayclarifythereadingforyou.

Journalarticle:similarproblemscanarisewithpeerreviewedjournalarticles.

Sometimesithelpstoreadarevieworaresponsetoanarticleoranauthortoprovidea

differentperspectiveonthetopicbeingaddressedinthearticle.

Complexcases:searchforcasenotesinacademicjournals.Inacasenote,thecasewill

havebeensummarisedandthemostimportantpointswillhavebeenidentified.Itwill

alsocontextualisethecasewithrespecttoexistinglaw.


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Writing

Writingandreadingskillsinformoneanotherandbyreadingwidelyfromjournal

articles,seminarmaterials,selectedreadings,booksandcasesyouwillbecomefamiliar

withthelanguageoflaw.Youwillbeexpectedtoproducearangeofdifferenttext

typesincluding:casenotes,researchessays,andresponsestoscenarioproblems.This

sectionoftheguideaimstogiveyoutipsonwritingthatyouwillusewhenwritingfor

anypurposeinyourlawdegree.Tipsmorespecifictoparticularassessmenttypesare

providedattheendofthisguide.

Thereismoretoacademicandprofessionallegalwritingthansimplyputtingdown

informationinanyorder.Youwillbeexpectedtodevelopanargumentandtoshowthe

relationshipbetweentheideasyouareexpressing,yourwritingmustthereforebe

cohesiveanddemonstratecoherence.

Coherence:meanstheessayorpapermakessensetothereader;itislogicaland

easytofollow.

Cohesion:referstothewayideasarerelatedtooneanother.Thisisachievedby

ensuringthatyourwritingcontainstransitionsignalsthroughout.

Transitionsignals:helptocreateasenseofcohesionbyindicating

relationshipsbetweenideasandconnectionsbetweensentences.Theyhave

manyfunctionsincludingsignalling:sequence,chronology,consequencecause

andeffect,andcontrast.See:http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/trans1.html

Thissectionoftheguideaimstogiveyoutipsonwritingthatyouwillusewhenwriting

foranypurposeinyourlawdegree.Specifictipsforparticularassessmenttypesare

providedattheendofthisguide.


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Somebasicrulesofacademicwriting

Citecaselaworlegislationforallpropositionsoflaw.

Acknowledgeallthereferencesyouuse.

Donotusecolloquiallanguageorslang.Useamoreformaltoneandan

objectiveregister.

Writewordsinfullandavoidcontractions.

Donotuseabbreviationsthathavenotbeenintroducedinfullfirst.

Donotusecolourfulorstrongemotionallanguage.

Dofavourtheactiveoverthepassivevoice.

TheImportanceofPlainEnglish

Studentsareexpectedtousealevelofformalityintheirlanguageandemploytheuseof

plainlanguagewhereappropriate.Theuseofplainlanguageispartofaneffortto

simplifythelanguageoflegalwritingandmakethelanguageoflawmoreinclusiveand

tothepoint.Thisdoesnotmeanthatthelanguageissimplisticorthatspecialisedlegal

termswithveryspecificmeaningsarenotused.

InsummarywritinginplainEnglishcanbeachievedby:

choosingtheshortestappropriateword,andavoidingpretenceoraffectation

tryingnottoadopta‘legal’toneorusetoomuchlegalese.

Example:

Thefollowing:

Iaminagreementwithyourdecision.Youwouldbewisetoeffectanimmediateterminationofthecontract.

Canbere‐writtenas:

Iagreewithyourdecision.Youwouldbewisetoendthecontractimmediately.2

2RosMacdonald,andDeborahClark‐Dickson,ClearandPrecisewritingforToday’sLawyers(Thomson

Reuters,2009)


18

PlainEnglishresources

Readmoreaboutthepracticeofplainlanguage.

ForadditionalinformationaboutplainEnglishandacademicwritingseealso:

MMAsprey,Plainlanguageforlawyers(FederationPress,2010)

TerryCMHutchinson,Researchingandwritinginlaw(Thomson

Reuters/LawbookCo,2010)

MartinCutts,OxfordGuidetoPlainEnglish(OUP2nded2004)

RupertHaigh,LegalEnglish(CavendishPublishing,2004)

AllbooksareavailablefromUTSlibrary.

Expressingyouropinion

Youmustformyourownopinion.Youropinionswillbesubjectedtothesamecritical

teststhatyouareaskedtoapplytotheviewsofothers.Inthelaw,thebetterinformed

opinionwillcarrymoreweightandcommandmorerespect.

Thesincerityofyouropinionisonematter:itslegalqualityisanother.Donotconfuse

thetwo,andexpectthatyouwillberewardedforsincerityorearnestness.

Writingyourfirstdraft

Writingisaniterativeprocessofslowlybuildingandimprovingonanargument.Donot

expectthatyourfirsteffortwillbeacceptable!Nomatterwhatyouhavetowritefor

assessment,considerablethoughtandeffortshouldgointothedraftingandyoushould

alwaysberealisticenoughtoappreciatethatwhatyouhavedonecouldbeimproved

upon.


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TIPS

Prepareaplanfirst.Organiseyourideasorissuesyouwanttoaddressina

logicalorder.Setthemoutasheadings.Considerhowyouwillleadfromone

issueintothenext.

Startwriting.Onlywhenyouhavesomethingonpaperwilltheassignmenttake

anyshape.Beawarethattherearemanyfalsestartswhenwriting;thisis

normalandpartoftheprocess.Youmightstarttowritebutthenrealisethat

thereissomethingelseyoucouldresearchorconsidermeaningthatyoumust

stopanddofurtherresearch.Butsoonenoughyouwillachievecriticalmass

andthewritingwillstarttoflow.

Aimtoprepareadraftthatcanthenbeimprovedon.Afirstdraft,forinstance,

mightbeabitlongerthanafinalwork,editingworkwilltheninvolvetrimming,

ratherthanthemoredifficulttaskofsupplementing.

Structuringwrittenwork

Inmostassessmenttasks,itwillbeessentialtostructureyourwritingwith:

anintroductionoutliningthenatureorscopeofthewriting.

thebodyofthetextfordiscussionoranalysisoftheproblemsorquestions.This

isoftenbrokendownintopartsbyuseofsub‐headings.

aconclusionthatbrieflysumsupthediscussionandstatesthefinalpositionto

whichyouhavearrived.

Headingsandsub‐headings

Thinkabouthowtostructureyourpaperinordertopresentyourmaterialinaneasyto

understandlayout.Headings,whichindicatethestructureofyouressay,areuseful

signpoststothereaderbecausetheyidentifywhatandwhereissuesarediscussedin

yourwriting.

Settingoutheadingsbeforeyoustartwritingwillalsoprovideastructureanddirect

yourwriting.Ifyoucreatealistofheadingsandsub‐headingsbeforeyoustartwriting,

stopandconsiderhowyouhaveorderedthem:dotheyleadlogicallyandpersuasively

fromoneissueintothenext?


20

Introduction

Anintroductionhelpstoorientatethereader,itisanimportantfirststepinwritinga

wellstructuredpaper.Itisessentialtohaveanintroductionwhich:

identifiestheissuesraisedbythequestion

statesyourtopicandwhatpositionyouwilltakeonit

brieflystatesthemajorpointsyouwanttowriteabout

outlineshowyouressaywillbeorganised

includesdefinitionsifappropriateandidentifiesassumptions.

Example

Ifaquestionasksyoutoassesstheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofacase,itisnot

sufficienttosay:

Thisessaywillassesstheadvantagesanddisadvantagesof[case].

Youneedtoalsogiveanoutlineofthescopeofyourargument:

Inthispapertheadvantagesanddisadvantagesof[x]areexamined.Itisarguedthatthecriticalroleof[oneadvantage]supportsashiftinpolicytoimplement[x],notwithstandingthepresenceofotherdisadvantages.

Furtherexamples:

Thispaperconsiders/doesnotconsider…

Thispaperwillfocusupon…

The[issue]willbeexplored…

Thispaperwilladdress[three]issueswhicharisefrom[case].First,[issue].Secondly,[secondissue].Finally,thequestionof[issue]remainsunsettled.

Inthesampletextbelowthechoiceoflanguageindicatestheaim,scope,main

argumentandstructureofthepaper.Beingabletoidentifythestagingwillalsohelp

youevaluatetherelevanceofthetexttoyourtopic.


21

! NOTE:Therelevantpartsofthetexthavebeenboldedtodemonstratehowtowritea

goodintroduction.DoNOTuseboldwhenyouarewritinganessay.

Introduction

Inwhathasrecentlybeendescribedasaclassicalstatementofthedoctrineof

estoppelinpais,DixonJsaidinGrundtvGreatBoulderPtyGoldMinesLtdthat

‘thebasalpurposeofthisdoctrine…istoavoidorpreventadetrimenttothe

partyassertingtheestoppel’.Theaimofthisarticleistoconsidertheextentto

which….doctrinesofestoppeloperatinginAustraliatoday..…Whilesome

judgesandcommentatorshaveadvocatedunificationofthosedoctrines….This

articlearguesthatprotectingagainstdetrimentalreliancecan,andshould,be

seenasthatunifyingforce.

Thefirstpartofthisarticleforthepurposeofthesubsequentanalysis…will

summarisethecurrentstateofestoppelinAustraliatoday

Thesecondpartofthearticlewillbrieflyoutlinethethreecompetingpurposes

ofestoppelwhichhavebeenarticulatedbyjudgesandcommentators.

Thearticleconcludesthattheconflicts…3

Seealsotheexampleinthe‘Howtoread’sectiononpage5above.

Body

Inthebodyofyourwritingyouwillexpandontheoutlineoftheargumentyou

providedintheintroduction.Eachparagraphshouldfocusonanaspectofthe

argumentorproblemsupportedbyseveralsentencescontainingevidence.Use

subheadingsbetweensectionsofthebodytosignifyinformationaboutthecontentto

thereader.

TIPS

Beginwithyourstrongestargument.

3AndrewRobertson,‘TowardsaUnifyingPurposeforEstoppel’(1996)22MonashUniversityLaw

Review1


22

Discussandevaluatethemajorpointsyouwanttomakewithevidencefromthe

readings.

Useatopicsentencetosetupeachparagraph.

Systematicallydiscussonepointperparagraph.

Moveinalogicalsequencefromonepointtothenext.

Showtheconnectionsbetweenideaswithlinkingwords.eg:‘However…’,‘In

contrastto…’,‘Inaddition…’,‘Furthermore…’,‘Takingintoconsideration….’

Concludeparagraphsorsectionsofyourwritingwithasentencethatrelatesthe

issuediscussedbacktothetopic.

Examples:

[Theissueof]iscurrentlyunresolved.

Itiswellestablishedthat…,orItiscommonlyunderstoodthat…

Commentatorsagreethat…

Thereisadifferenceofopinionamongstcommentatorsinrelationto…

Thequestionof[x]wasconsideredin[casename].Thecourtheld/HarrisJheld…

Thedifficultywhichthisgivesrisetoisthis:…

UnderAustralianlaw,theelementsofthisdoctrinewereestablished/discussedin[casename].Theyare:…

(Casename]hasbeenapprovedandappliedinseveralrecentcases:[case],[case]and[case].

Paragraphs

Anywrittenworkshouldbepresentedinparagraphs.Aparagraphisagroupof

connectedsentencesaboutoneidea.Eachparagraphshouldbeginwithatopic

sentencethateitherrefersbacktothepreviousparagraphandexpandsontheideas

expressedorintroducesanewidea.Cohesioniscreatedbyshowingrelationships

betweenideasindicatedbytransitionsignalsrepeatingkeywordsandreferringbackto

thesubjectoftheparagraph.Towriteessaysatuniversitylevel,andtodevelopan

argumentthatcansatisfactorilydealwithissues,itisimperativethatyouusecoherent

paragraphs.Theformatofaparagraphsignalstothereaderthatitrepresentsan

integratedchainofsentences,andmustbereadasawhole.


23

Itisrarelypossibletodevelopyourideasandtodiscusstheideasofothersadequately

unlessyouspendmorethanthreeorfoursentencesoneachofthemattersyouhaveto

consider.Donotmakeeachsentenceaseparateparagraph:thismakesyouressay

disjointed.Whileitistemptingtoreduceyourworktoaseriesofdot‐points–

especiallywhendealingwithastrictwordlimit–thisseriouslyinhibitsyourcapacity

todemonstratetothemarkerthatyoucanpersuasively,elegantlyandthoroughlymake

apoint.

Concludingsentences

Theconcludingcommentstoeachparagraphorsectionofyouressayshoulddrawout

themainpointsandmakesenseofanyconflictingopinionsandfindings.

Examples:

ThekeyfindingsinrelationtoXseemtobe...

ThesignificantissueswithrespecttoXappeartobe...

Thefundamentalproblemsidentifiedbyexistingresearchare...

ThemostimportantfactorsassociatedwithXcanbecategorisedas...

ThenoteworthyfeaturesofXare...

Themostfrequentlymentioneddrawbacksarethefollowing:

Thepredominantviewappearstobe...

ThecrucialfactorsrelatedtoXseemtobe...

Conclusion

Itisalsoessentialtofinishtheessaywithaclearconclusion,whichsummarisesthe

argumentsyouhavemadeorproblemsyouhaveidentified.Theconclusion:

shouldbebrief.Itshouldsummariseyourmainargumentsandstateclearly

yourconclusion.

cannotintroduceanynewargument.

mustbelogicallyconsistentwithyourargument.


24

Examples

InconclusionbyanalysingYithasbeenarguedthatX…..

Theconceptof[x]hasprovendifficulttodefine.In[case]itwasdescribedintermsof[description].However,in[case]itwastreatedas[havingabroader/narrowerscope].

Itisthereforelogicaltoarguethatbecauseof….itislikelytobeheldthat

AfterconsideringthesefactorsIwouldadviseSmithto…..

Writingaboutcases

Writingaboutcasesemploysparticularlanguageandparticularwritingconventions.

Examples

Atrialbeforeasinglejudge(i.e.notanappeal)canbedescribedasatrialor‘atfirst

instance’.Anappealdecisionisdescribedasbeing‘onappeal’:

Atfirstinstance,WhiteJawardedtheplaintiffdamages.Onappeal,theNewSouthWalesCourtofAppealupheldthedecisionofthetrialjudge.

Todescribewhatajudgedecided,write:

GreggJheld…

GreggJfound…

Whereyouwishtorefertothereasonsofajudgeinacourtofappeal,refertothejudge

andnotewhethertheotherjudgesagreedwiththatjudge,orwhetherthatjudgewasin

dissent.Forexample:

InHarrisvSmith,GreggJA(withwhomSmilesJAandFrownJAagreed)observedthat…

InHarrisvSmith,GreggJA(indissent/dissenting)heldthat…

Referringtojudicialofficers

SeeAGLC,r2.9


25

Sometimesyouwillhavetoidentifyaparticularjudge–orjudges–inyourwriting.For

example,ifyouquotefromacaseyoumustcitethejudge(s)fromwhosejudgmentyou

havetakenthequote.

Toproperlyrefertoajudicialofficer,refertotheirsurnamefollowedbyan

abbreviationdenotingtheirtitle.Followingaresomeexamplesthatarecommonly

encountered(AdaptedfromtableinAGLC,r2.9):

Typeofjudicialofficer Abbreviation Pluralabbreviationform

Trial/singlejudge J JJ

Judgeofappeal JA JJA

Chiefjustice CJ n/a

ChiefJudgeinEquity CJinEq n/a

ChiefJudgeatCommonLaw CJatCL n/a

Actingtrial/singlejudge AJ AJJ

Actingjudgeofappeal AJA AJJA

President P n/a

Lord n/a n/a

LordJustice LJ LLJ

Viscount V n/a

Vice‐Chancellor VC n/a

Usethepluralabbreviationformwhenreferringtojointjudgmentsorotherwise

collectivelytomorethanonejudge.


26

Examples

InSmithvHarris,HamiltonJheldthat…

InthesepassagesShellerJAidentifiesamatterofsomecommercialsignificance. …

InHarrisvDigitalPulse,MasonPdissentedfromthemajority.…

Ontheotherhand,BrennanCJwasoftheviewthat…

InButchervLachlanElderRealtyPtyLtd,themajorityjudgmentconsistedofGleesonCJ,HayneandHeydonJJ.…

OwenJAagreedwiththejointjudgmentofWheelerandPullinJJA.

Writingaboutlegislation

Writingaboutlegislation,likewritingaboutcases,employsparticularlanguageand

particularwritingconventions.

Examples

Anactiontakeninrespectoflegislationbecauseitisauthorisedormandatedbya

particularsectionisoftendescribedasanactiontaken‘under’or‘pursuantto’.

Havingtakenintoaccounttheevidenceandsubmissions,Idecidedthatthecorrectorpreferabledecisionpursuanttosection69A(3)oftheActwastoaffirmthedecisionoftheConferenceRegistrarinrelationtoItems1‐6andtodisallowtheclaimfor$261.…

Forthesectiontoapplytherequirementsofbothsubsections(a)and(b)mustbesatisfied:thatis,theapplicantmustbothhavebeeninvitedtocommentonorrespondtoinformationunders359A(s359C(2)(a)),andmustnothavegiventhecommentsorresponsebeforethetimeforgivingthemhadpassed(s359C(2)(b)).…

LiabilitytopaydamagesformisleadinganddeceptiveconductintradeorcommerceusedtobefoundunderTradePracticesAct1974(Cth),s82.TheequivalentliabilityisnowfoundunderAustralianConsumerLaw,s236.…

Astatutethatisnolongerinforceisreferredtoas‘repealed’.

Section121(1)oftheWorkersCompensationAct1987wasrepealedbytheWorkersCompensation(CompensationCourt)AmendmentAct1989,sch1,cl(14).TheCompensationCourt(Amendment)Act1987,sch1,cl(4),repealeds18(3)ofthe1984Act.Itwashoweverre‐enactedinsubstantiallysimilarformass121(1)oftheWorkersCompensationAct1987.…


27

InButlervAttorney‐General(1961)106CLR268,amajorityoftheHighCourt(Kitto,TaylorandMenziesJJ,FullagarandWindeyerJJdissenting)heldthats.32(5)ofthePublicServiceAct1946(Vic)hadimpliedlyrepealeds.10oftheDischargedServicemen’sPreferenceAct1943(Vic).…

Referringtoauthors

See:AGLC,r1.14.1

Ifyourefertoanauthorinthebodyyourdiscussion(or,inrarercases,whereyou

provideextracommentaryinyourfootnotes),youmayrefertothembytheirsurname

only,orwithanhonorifictitle.

Examples

Thepossessionofthebaileeisandmustbedistinguishedfromthepossessionoftheownerandthatofthethiefbythefactthatthebaileeasbaileemakesnoaccompanyingclaimtoorassertionofdominium,butacceptsacontinuinginterestofapreviousownerorpossessor.Street,however,takesthematterfurther.…4

Morefundamentally,asGalanterargues,“justiceisnotprimarilytobefoundinofficialjustice‐dispensinginstitutions”.…5

Asmightbeexpected,bothinhisjudicialdecisionsandinhisextra‐curialwriting,SirAnthonyMasonhasaddressedtheissueofinterpretationoftheConstitutionmanytimes.Mostrecentlyhedidsoinanessayentitled‘TheInterpretationofaConstitutioninaModernLiberalDemocracy’.Inthatessay,SirAnthonyMasonclassifiedvariousapproachestotheinterpretationoftheConstitution:…6

Tofindouthowtorefertojudicialofficersinyourwriting,see‘Referringtojudicial

officers’atpage24above.

Quotes

SeeAGLC,r1.5

4AESTay"TheEssenceofaBailment:Contract,AgreementorPossession?"(1966)5SydneyLaw

Review239239

5RonaldSackville“Somethoughtsonaccesstojustice”(2004)2NewZealandJournalofPublicand

InternationalLaw85

6TheHonJusticeMichaelKirbyACCMG“ConstitutionalInterpretationandOriginalIntent:AFormof

AncestorWorship?”(2000)24MelbourneUniversityLawReview1


28

Quotesoffewerthanthreelinesappearinthebodyofthetextinsinglequotation

marks.Ifyourquotecontainsaquotewithinit,thequotewithinthequoteisdenoted

byusingdoublequotationmarks.

Examples

ThiswasadoptedinthejointjudgmentofGummow,HayneandCrennanJJinForgevASICwhereitwassaidthat‘ChapterIII[oftheConstitution]requiresthattherebeabodyfittingthedescription“theSupremeCourtofaState”’,and‘thatitisbeyondthelegislativepowerofaStatesotoaltertheconstitutionorcharacterofitsSupremeCourtthatitceasestomeettheconstitutionaldescription’.Earlier,inFardonvAttorney‐General(Qld)GummowJobservedthatthe‘institutionalintegrityofthestatecourts…bespeakstheirconstitutionallymandatedpositionintheAustralianlegalsystem’.HisHonourwastherereferringtotheCommonwealthConstitution.…7

Unders74MAoftheRealPropertyAct1900(NSW)aregisteredproprietorcanseektohaveacaveatwithdrawnimmediately,ratherthansimplyissuealapsingnotice.Onsuchanapplication‘itiswellestablishedthatthecaveatorbearstheonusofsustainingthecaveat’andthetestissimilartothatinvolvedinthegrantofaninterlocutoryinjunction.8

Ifaquoteislongerthanthreelineslong,itshouldbe:

inanewparagraph,indentedfromtheleftmargin

inasmallerfont

havenoquotationmarkssurroundingit.

Ifyourquotecontainsquoteswithinit,surroundthequotewithinwithsinglequotation

marks.

Examples:

Impartialityisanessentialcharacteristicofcourts.AswassaidinForgevAustralianSecuritiesandInvestmentsCommission:

7TheHonJusticeJGilmour‘Kirk:Newton’sapplefell’(2011)34AustralianBarReview155,167

8LeeAitken‘Currentissueswithcaveats:Apan‐Australianconspectus’(2010)84AustralianLawJournal

22,24


29

Animportantelement...intheinstitutionalcharacteristicsofcourtsinAustraliaistheircapacitytoadministerthecommonlawsystemofadversarialtrial.Essentialtothatsystemistheconductoftrialbyanindependentandimpartialtribunal.…9

Thepartybringingthechargebearstheonusofproof,andallcontempts,whetherornotclassifiedascriminal,mustbeprovedaccordingtotheordinarycriminalstandardofproofbeyondreasonabledoubt.Therefore,asGibbs,StephenandMasonJJintheirjointjudgmentinBarcavR(1975)133CLR82(at104)stated:

Whenthecaseagainstanaccusedpersonrestssubstantiallyuponcircumstantialevidencethejurycannotreturnaverdictofguiltyunlessthecircumstancesare‘suchastobeinconsistentwithanyreasonablehypothesisotherthantheguiltoftheaccused’:PeacockvTheKing.Toenableajurytobesatisfiedbeyondreasonabledoubtoftheguiltoftheaccuseditisnecessarynotonlythathisguiltshouldbearationalinferencebutthatitshouldbe‘theonlyrationalinferencethatthecircumstanceswouldenablethemtodraw’:PlompvTheQueen;seealsoThomasvTheQueen.…10

Ellipses

SeeAGLC,r1.5.7

Anellipsiswithinaquoteisaseriesofthreefullstops(‘…’)whichdenotesthatsome

wordsfromthequotehavebeenomitted.Itisusefultoomitwordsfromquoteswhere

theyarenottothepointorwouldinterrupttheflowofyourtext.

Example:

Secondly,theessentialnotionisthatofrepugnancytoorincompatibilitywiththatinstitutionalintegrityoftheStatecourtswhichbespeakstheirconstitutionallymandatedpositionintheAustralianlegalsystem.11

Becomes,inthefollowingquote:

Earlier,inFardonvAttorney‐General(Qld)GummowJobservedthatthe‘institutionalintegrityofthestatecourts…bespeakstheirconstitutionallymandatedpositionintheAustralianlegalsystem’.HisHonourwastherereferringtotheCommonwealthConstitution.

9BritishAmericanTobaccoAustraliaServicesLimitedvLaurie[2011]HCA2(9February2011),[32]

(FrenchCJ),citingForgevAustralianSecuritiesandInvestmentsCommission(2006)228CLR45,76[64]

(Gummow,HayneandCrennanJJ)

10AlivCollectionPointPtyLtd[2011]FCAFC87(15July2011),[41](Rares,FosterandDodds‐Streeton

JJ)

11FardonvAttorney‐General(Qld)(2004)223CLR575,[101](GummowJ)


30

Citation

Legalwritinghasquitedistinctiveconventionsthatyoushouldadoptinallofyour

writtenwork.Inparticular,youmustknowhowtocorrectlyciteprimaryauthorities

(statutesandcases).Thestandardagainstwhichyouwillbeassessedwhenitcomesto

thisistheAustralianGuidetoLegalCitation(3rded)(‘AGLC’).

TheAGLCdealscomprehensivelywithlegalcitationaswellascitingsecondary

resourcessuchasbooks,journalarticlesandonlineresources.Thefollowing,therefore,

isabriefoverviewoftheareasthatmayneedclarification,andincludesdirectionsto

themostrelevantpartoftheAGLCformoredetail.

Footnotes

SeeAGLC,r1.1

Inlaw,generallyfootnotesareusedandnotendnotesorintextreferencing(also

knownasthe‘Harvardsystem’).Forthepurposeofyourassessment,youmust

footnoteyourwork.

Whentofootnote

SeeAGLC,r1.1.1

TheAGLC,r1.1.1verysuccinctlysetsoutwhenyoushouldfootnote:

Footnotesshouldbeusedto:

provideauthorityforaproposition;

acknowledgeasourcethatisrelevanttoanargumentandindicatehowitis

relevant;

provideinformationthatenablestheretrievalofrelevantsourcesand

quotationsthatappearinthetext;and

provideother(oftentangentialorextraneous)informationthatisnot

appropriatetoincludeinthetext.


31

Howtofootnote

SeeAGLC,rr1.1,1.4

Thistablesummarises:

Howtociteasourceforthefirsttime;

Howtocitearepeatcitationofasource.

Source Action Howtofootnote

Any Citinginthefootnotesforthefirsttime.

Citeinfull.

Any Citinginthefootnoteswheretheimmediatelypriorfootnoteistheonlyandexactsamesourcecited.

Write‘Ibid’ifthepinpointreferenceisthesame.Addthepinpointreferenceafterthe‘Ibid’ifitisdifferent.12

Books;

Journalarticles;

Othersecondarysources.13

Citinginthefootnoteswherethesourcehasalreadybeencited,butisnot:

theonlyandexactsamesourcecitedintheimmediatelypriorfootnote;or

oneofmultiplesourcescitedintheimmediatelypriorfootnote.

Write:

‘[Author’ssurname],abovenX,[pinpointreference]’

Where‘X’isthefootnotenumberwherethesourcewasfirstcited.

Cases;

Legislation;

Otherprimarysources.14

Citinginthefootnoteswherethesourcehasalreadybeencited,butisnot:

theonlyandexactsamesourcecitedintheimmediatelypriorfootnote;or

oneofmultiplesourcescitedintheimmediatelypriorfootnote.

Citethesourceinfullandgivethepinpointreference;or

Citethesourceusingits‘shorttitle’andgivethepinpointreference.

(SeeShorttitles/abbreviatingnamesonpage32)

12A‘pinpointreference’istheexactpageorparagraphnumbertowhichyouarereferringinyour

citation.Seefurtherinthisguideundertherelevantsectiononcitingaparticularsourceonhowto

properlypinpointreference.

13SeeAGLC,r6.16

14SeeAGLC,r1.4.2


32

Examples

Thefollowingtabledemonstrateshowaseriesoffootnotesmightlookandincludes

examplesofrepeatcitations.Threesourceshavebeencitedandeachishighlightedina

differentcolourtoshowhoweachisfirstcited,thencitedlaterdependinguponwhere

thelatercitationsareinrelationtothefirst.

1. WaltonsStores(Interstate)LtdvMaher (1988)164CLR387,406(MasonCJandWilsonJ)(‘WaltonStores’)

2. Ibid,4073. AustotelPtyLtdvFranklinsSelfServePtyLtd (1989)16NSWLR582,585(KirbyP)

(‘AustotelvFranklins’)4. Ibid5. WaltonStores(1988)164CLR387,428(BrennanJ)6. KRHandleyEstoppelbyConductandElection(SweetandMaxwell,2006)257. AustotelvFranklins(1989)16NSWLR582,586(KirbyP)8. Handley,aboven6,27

Shorttitles/abbreviatingnames

SeeAGLCr1.4.3

Ashorttitleisanabbreviatedtitleyoumaygivetocertainprimarysourcesyoucite

multipletimesyourwriting.Usingshorttitlessavesyouhavingtotypeoutcitationsof

primarysourcesinfulleachtimeyourcitethem.TheAGLCprovidesthatshorttitles

maybeusedforthefollowingprimarysources:

casesandinternationaljudicialdecisions

legislation

treaties

othermaterials.15

Ashorttitleisdesignatedbyfollowingthefirstcitation–whichisalwaysgiveninfull–

withroundbracketsandyourdesignatedshorttitleinsingleinvertedcommasinthose

brackets(seeexamplesbelow).Yourfirstfullcitationcouldbeinthebodyofyour

writingorasafootnote.

Examples

CommercialBankofAustraliaLtdvAmadio(1983)151CLR447(‘Amadio’)15SeeAGLC,r1.4.3


33

AustralianSecuritiesandInvestmentsCommissionvSomerville(2009)77NSWLR110(‘ASICvSomerville’)

TradePracticesAct1974(Cth)(‘TPA’)

Youmaydesignateyourownshorttitle.Shorttitlescanbeusedinthebodyofyour

writingaswellasinyourfootnotes.

Otherusesofshorttitles

Shorttitlescanalsobeappliedtoindividualsorganisationswithlongnames,whereyou

willbereferringtothoseindividualsororganisationsmanytimesinyourwriting.

Usingshorttitlesinthisregardisnotacitationissue,butitisworthmentioning.

Examples:

AustralianSecuritiesandInvestmentsCommission(‘ASIC’)

AustralianCompetitionandConsumerCommission(‘ACCC’)

TheMinisterforImmigrationandCitizenship(‘theMinister’)

! NOTE:

Itisnotappropriatetoabbreviateorgiveshorttitlestolegalconceptsasawaytosave

words.Youmustnotabbreviateaconceptlike‘misleadingordeceptiveconduct’to

‘mdc’or‘promissoryestoppel’to‘pe’.

Cases

SeeAGLC,r2

ThefollowingtablesareadaptedfromtheAGLC.Thefirsttableshowshowareported

caseiscited.Thesecondshowshowunreportedcasesarecited.

! Note:onlythecasenameisitalicised.


34

Reportedcases

Examples RvTang (2008) 237 CLR 1 ,7

BakkervStewart [1980] VR 17 ,22

RowevMcCartney [1976] 2 NSWR 72 ,75

Element Casename Year Law

report

volume

LawReport

name

Firstpageof

judgment

Pinpoint

reference

AGLC

Reference

Rule2.1 Rule2.2 Rule2.2 Rule2.3 Rule2.4 Rule2.5

Unreported/MediumNeutralCases

Examples AssociatedAlloysPtyLimitedv

ACN001452106PtyLimited

[2000] HCA 25 (11May2000) [7]

RvOzbec [2008] VSCA 9 (31January

2008)

[15]

LarsenvLinch [2006] FCA 385 (7April2006) [20]

FrancisvCPIGraphicsLtd [2011] NSWSC 317 (5April2011) [6]

Element Casename Year Court Judgment

number

Judgment

date

Pinpoint

ref.

AGLC

Reference

Rule2.1 Rule

2.2

Rule2.3 Rule2.4 Rule2.5

Citingcasesinthebodyofyourwriting

Theexamplesofcasecitationsprovidedabovedemonstratehowtociteacasenamein

full.Inyourwriting,however,youdonotneedtocitethefullcasenameinthebodyof

yourtext.Rather,youcancitethename–andjustthename–andthenfootnotethe

restofthecitation.


35

Example

Ratherthanwrite:

InInreBankofCreditandCommerceInternationalSA(No8)[1998]AC214,226,LordHoffmann,withwhosespeechtheotherLawLordsagreed,gaveadescriptionofanequitablechargeinwhichheemphasisedthattheproprietaryinterestcreatedtherebyisheldbywayofsecurity,sothatthechargeemayresorttothechargedassetonlyforthepurposeofsatisfyingsomeliabilityduetothechargee.

Youcanwrite:

InInreBankofCreditandCommerceInternationalSA(No8)16,LordHoffmann,withwhosespeechtheotherLawLordsagreed,gaveadescriptionofanequitablechargeinwhichheemphasisedthattheproprietaryinterestcreatedtherebyisheldbywayofsecurity,sothatthechargeemayresorttothechargedassetonlyforthepurposeofsatisfyingsomeliabilityduetothechargee.

Theadvantagesofcitinglikethisisthatit:

reducesclutterinyourwriting

itsavesyoupreciouswordscontributingtowardsyourwordcount.

However,itisnotessentialtocitelikethis.Theimportantpointistobeconsistent!

Whichcasetocite?

SeeAGLC,r2.3

Youwilloftenfindthataparticularcaseispublishedinseverallawreports.Thatcase

mighthavea:

citationinanauthorisedlawreport

citationinanunauthorisedgeneralistlawreport

citationinanunauthorisedspecialistlawreport

mediumneutralcitation.

Thefollowingtableshowsthedifferencebetweenthedifferenttypesofreportswith

theappropriatecitation:

16[1998]AC214,226


36

Type Content Commonexamples Whencited

Authorisedlaw

report

Anauthorisedreportseriesisa

publicationthathasbeenrecognisedby

aparticularcourtasreportingthe

preferredandauthoriseddecisions

madebyit.Oftenthecasesthatare

reportedinthesereportshavebeen

carefullyscrutinisedbyalawreporting

councilwhosefunctionistoidentify

casesofnotetobereported.

CommonwealthLawReports

(CLR)

FederalCourtReports(FCR)

NewSouthWalesLawReports

(NSWLR)

Ifacasehasbeenreported

inanauthorisedlaw

report,usethiscitationin

placeofallothers.

Unauthorised

generalistlaw

report

Anunauthorisedgeneralistreportseries

isgeneralinscopeanddoesnot

necessarilylimititselftoreportingcases

fromaparticularcourtorjurisdiction.

Norisitrecognisedbyaparticularcourt

asreportingitsauthorisedcases.These

reportstendtopublishcasesfasterthan

theauthorisedlawreports,soimportant

casesoftenaremadeavailableinan

unauthorisedseriesbeforeitis

publishedinanauthorisedseries.

AustralianLawReports(ALR)

FederalLawReports(FLR)


inageneralistlawreport,

butnot(yet)inan

authorisedlawreport,use

thiscitationinplaceofall

others.

Unauthorised

specialistlaw

report

Anunauthorisedspecialistreportseries

ismorespecialisedthanan

unauthorisedgeneralistreportseries

andsimilarlydoesnotlimititselfto

reportingcasesfromaparticularcourt

orjurisdiction.Ittendstofocusoncases

ofareparticularareaofthelaw.For

example:criminallaw,administrative

law,tradepractices,etc.Sometimes,the

casesreportedwillnotbetheentire

judgment,butjustextractsofkey

paragraphs.

AustralianCorporationand

SecuritiesReports(ACSR)

AustralianCriminalReports(A

CrimR)

AdministrativeLawDecisions

(ALD)

FamilyLawReports(FLR)

IndustrialReports(IR)


inaspecialistlawreport,

butnot(yet)inan

authorisedlawreportor

anunauthorised

generalistreport,usethis

citationinplaceofall

others.

Unreported/

Mediumneutral

citation

Alotofcaselawisnowreported

directlyonlinebythecourts.Becauseof

this,everycasereportedsincethelate

1990shavebeendesignatedamedium

neutralcitation.

Seetableunder‘Cases’above. Onlyusemediumneutral

citationswhenthecase

hasnotbeenreportedat

all.


37

Parallelcitations

SeeAGLC,r2.9

Giventhatacasecanbereportedinseveralplaces,itisnotuncommontoseein

judgmentsthatithasbeencitedinallthereportsinwhichthecasehasbeenreported.

Thisisknownasa‘parallelcitation’.

Example:

…Leavingasidethedifficultyoftheabsenceofarelevantfindingofmistake,thefactthatsuchavitiatingfactorexistsmaybenecessary,butisnotsufficient,forthemakingoutofaclaimforrestitution.Itistheinjusticeoftheretentionthatfoundstheclaim:Ford(byhistutorWatkinson)vPerpetualTrusteesVictoriaLtd[2009]NSWCA186;75NSWLR42at69[121]and73[134];PerpetualTrusteesAustraliaLtdvHeperuPtyLtd[2009]NSWCA84;76NSWLR195at221‐222[127]‐[128]and229[161];andHeperuPtyLtdvBelle[2009]NSWCA252;76NSWLR230at264‐265[145]‐[151],269[179]and270[180].

Theabovequotecitesthreecases,eachofwhichhascitedtheauthorisedlawreport

andthemediumneutralcitation.Youdonotneedtodothis.TheAGLCstatesthat

parallelcitationsarenottobeused.Rather,applyingthetableabove,theabovequote

wouldlooklikethis:

…Leavingasidethedifficultyoftheabsenceofarelevantfindingofmistake,thefactthatsuchavitiatingfactorexistsmaybenecessary,butisnotsufficient,forthemakingoutofaclaimforrestitution.Itistheinjusticeoftheretentionthatfoundstheclaim:Ford(byhistutorWatkinson)vPerpetualTrusteesVictoriaLtd(2009)75NSWLR42,69;PerpetualTrusteesAustraliaLtdvHeperuPtyLtd(2009)76NSWLR195,221‐222and229;andHeperuPtyLtdvBelle(2009)76NSWLR230,264‐265,269and270.


38

Pinpointreferencing

See:AGLC,r2.5

Apinpointreferencefollowsacasecitationanddirectsthereadertotheexactpage(s)

orparagraph(s)inajudgment.Forexample,youwoulduseapinpointreferenceto

indicatethepage/paragraphnumberof:

aquote,or

theratioofacase.

TheAGLCrequiresthatpinpointreferencesmustbedoneasfollows:

Casetype Rule Examples

Reportedbut

without

paragraph

numbering

(Oldercases)

Acommafollowsthecasecitationandthepage

numbermustbeprovided.

Aseriesofsequentialpagescanbeshownbyadashin

betweenthefirstpageofthesequenceandthelast.

Areferencetomultiplepages,notnecessarily

sequentialorder,isshownbyusingacommain

betweenreferences.

HeperuPtyLtdvBelle(2009)76NSWLR

230,269


230,269‐270


230,269‐270,289

Reportedwith

paragraph

numbering

(Moderncases)

Acommafollowsthecasecitationandthepage


Itisoptionaltoincludetheparagraphreferencein

squarebracketsfollowingthepagenumber.Notethat,

again,acommaisusedtoseparatepinpoint

referencesondifferentpages.


230,269


230,269[179]


230,264‐265[145]‐[151],270[180]

Unreported

cases

Acommafollowsthecasecitationandtheparagraph

numbermustbeprovidedinsquarebrackets.

Aseriesofsequentialparagraphscanbeshownbya

dashinbetweenthefirstpageofthesequenceandthe

last.

Areferencetomultipleparagraphs,notnecessarily

sequentialorder,isshownbyusingacommain

betweenreferences.

HeperuPtyLtdvBelle[2009]NSWCA252,

[179]


[145]‐[151]


[145]‐[151],[179]


39

Forcompleteness,ifyoupinpointreferenceinacaseyoushouldalsorefertothe

judicialofficerinwhosejudgmentyouhaveprovidedthepinpointreference.Their

name(s)is/areshowninroundbracketsfollowingthepinpointreference.

Examples

RvWilhelm(2010)77NSWLR1,5[24](HowieJ)

PTGarudaIndonesiaLtdandAnothervAustralianCompetitionandConsumerCommission(2011)192FCR393,398[11](LanderandGreenwoodJJ)

Decisionsoftribunalsandother‘court‐like’bodies

SeeAGLC,r2.11

Todaythereisawiderangeofothertribunalsandcourts.Likejudgments,those

decisionsarereadilymadeavailableonlineandadoptthesame–orverysimilar–

mediumneutralcitations.Sotherulessetoutabovewillgenerallyapply.

! Notethefollowing:

Youneedtoknowtheappropriatetitlesofthetribunalmembersorequivalent.

SeeAGLC,r2.11.1.

Therearesometimesslightdifferencesinthecitation.SeeAGLC,r2.11.1formore

details.

Statutesanddelegatedlegislation

SeeAGCL,r3.1

Statutesareaveryimportantsourceoflaw,soitisimperativethatyouknowhowto

citethemproperly.Delegatedlegislationisalsoveryimportantasitoftencontainsthe

administrativedetailsofparticularstatutes.

ThefollowingtablesareadaptedfromtheAGLCandprovideexamplesanda

breakdownofcorrectlegislationcitation.


40

Statutes

Examples

CorporationsAct 2001 (Cth) ,s100

CrimesAct 1900 (NSW) ,s51

TransferofLandAct 1893 (WA) ,ss1–4A

CompetitionandConsumerAct 2010 (Cth) ,Pt2

RestraintsofTradeAct 1976 (NSW) ,s4(3)

ActsInterpretationAct 1954 (Qld) ,s20(2)(a)–(e)

Element Statutetitle Yearenacted Jurisdiction Pinpoint

reference

AGLCref Rule3.1.1 Rule3.1.2 Rule3.1.3 Rule3.1.4–

3.1.5

DelegatedLegislation

Examples NationalGalleryRegulations 1982 (Cth) ,reg3

FederalCourtRules 1979 (Cth) ,O3

UniformCivilProcedureRules 2005 (NSW) ,r3.4

Element Delegatelegislationtitle Year

enacted

Jurisdiction Pinpoint

reference

AGLCref Rule3.3

Essentially,thereisnodifferenceinformwhencitingstatutesordelegatedlegislation.

! Note:

Whencitingstatutesordelegatedlegislation,onlythetitleandyearisitalicised,

NOTthejurisdiction.


41

Pinpointreferencing

SeeAGCL,rr3.1.4–3.1.5(Statutes),3.3.2(delegatedlegislation)

Apinpointreferencefollowsastatutecitationanddirectsthereadertotheexact

section(s)orsubsection(s)inastatute.Itisalwaysbettertoprovideapinpoint

referencewherepossibleratherthanrefergenerallytoanentirestatute.

Thefollowing(slightlymodified)tabletakenfromtheAGLC,3.1.4,indicateswhat

abbreviationstousewhenpinpointreferencingpartsofastatute.

Unitsofastatute

Designation Abbreviation Plural

designation

Abbreviation

section s sections ss

sub‐section sub‐s sub‐sections sub‐ss

appendix app appendices apps

article art articles arts

chapter ch chapters chs

clause cl clauses cls

division div divisons divs

paragraph para paragraphs paras

part pt parts parts

schedule sch schedules schs

sub‐clause sub‐cl sub‐clauses sub‐cls

sub‐division sub‐div sub‐divisions sub‐divs


42

sub‐paragraph sub‐para sub‐paragraphs sub‐paras

Thefollowing(slightlymodified)tabletakenfromtheAGLC,r3.3.2,indicateswhat

abbreviationstousewhenpinpointreferencingpartsofdelegatedlegislation.Unlike

statutes,whichareuniformlymadeupof‘sections’and‘sub‐sections’,thebuilding

blockofdelegatedlegislationvarybetweeninstruments.

Unitsofdelegatedlegislation

Designation Abbreviation Plural

designation

Abbreviation

order O orders OO

regulation reg regulations regs

sub‐regulation sub‐reg sub‐regulations sub‐regs

rule r rules rr

sub‐rule sub‐r sub‐rules sub‐rr

Thelevelofastatuteordelegatedlegislationstowhichyoucite–ie,fromwhole

chapterstopartstodivisionstosectionstosub‐sections–dependsuponhowprecise

youneedtobe.Sometimesyouneedonlyindicateapartofastatute,inothercasesyou

needtoidentifythespecificsubsection.Followingareexamplesofhowtocitedownto

sub‐sectionlevel.

Example Citation

Schedule2oftheCompetitionandConsumer

Act2010(Cth)

CompetitionandConsumerAct2010(Cth),sch2

Section10oftheCompetitionandConsumer

Act2010(Cth)

CompetitionandConsumerAct2010(Cth),s10


43

Sections10to13oftheCompetitionand

ConsumerAct2010(Cth)

CompetitionandConsumerAct2010(Cth),ss10–13

Sections10,14and17oftheCompetition

andConsumerAct2010(Cth)

CompetitionandConsumerAct2010(Cth),ss10,14,17

Sub‐section1ofsection10ofthe

CompetitionandConsumerAct2010(Cth)

CompetitionandConsumerAct2010(Cth),s10(1)

Sub‐sections1to3ofsection10ofthe


CompetitionandConsumerAct2010(Cth),s10(1)‐(3)

Sub‐sections1,1Band3ofsection10ofthe


CompetitionandConsumerAct2010(Cth),s10(1),(1B),(3)

! Note:

Thereisaspacebetweenthe‘s’andthesectionnumber,butnospacebetween

thesectionnumberandthefirstsub‐sectionnumber.

Sub‐sectionsarealwaysdenotedbyroundbrackets.

Eventhoughsomeexamplescitesub‐sectionsofsections,thecitationshowsthe

higherofthese.

PleaserefertoAGLC,3.1.5foramorecomprehensivelistofmultiplepinpoint

referencingforstatutesandAGLC,3.3.2fordelegatedlegislation.Althoughallof

theaboveexamplesdealwithcitingastatute,thesameprinciplesapplytociting

delegatedlegislation.

Quasi‐legislativematerials

SeeAGLC,r3.4

TheAGLCprovideguidanceonhowtoproperlycitethefollowingmaterials.

Resource AGLCreference

Bills Rule3.4.5

Explanatorymemoranda,statementsandnotes Rule3.4.6

Gazettes Rule3.4.1


44

Ordersandrulingsofgovernmentinstrumentalitiesand

officers(ASICclassorders,taxationrulings,etc)

Rule3.4.2

Legislationdelegatedtonon‐governmententities

(ASXlistingrules,professionalconductrules,etc)

Rule3.4.3

Courtpracticedirectionsandpracticenotes Rule3.4.4

TheAustralianConstitution(s)

SeeAGLC,r3.2

TheAustralianConstitutionmaybecitedasfollows:

AustralianConstitution

CommonwealthConstitution

CommonwealthofAustraliaConstitutionAct1900(Imp)63&64Vict,c4,s9

Theconstitutionsofthestatesarecitedlikeordinarystatutes.

Pinpointreferencingwhencitingaconstitutionisthesameasordinarystatutes.

Secondaryresources

SeeAGLC,PtIII

Youwillalsohavetocitesecondaryresourcesinyourwriting,particularlyifyouare

givenaresearchessay.Themostcommonsecondaryresourcesyouwillhavetocite

arebooksandjournalarticles.

Onceagain,theAGLCprovidescomprehensiveguidancetocitingallformsofsecondary

materialandyoumusttorefertoittofindoutmore.Thisguidewillprovideabrief

overviewoftheabovetworesources.


45

Books

SeeAGLC,r5

ThefollowingtableisadaptedfromtheAGLCandprovidesexamplesofhowtocite

books.

Examples

PeterButt LandLaw (ThomsonReuters,

6thed,2010)

[1254]

JeanniePaterson,

AndrewRobertson

andPeterHeffey

PrinciplesofContractLaw (LawbookCo,2nded,

2005)

[17.55]

ClareOveyand

RobinCAWhite

Jacobs&White:TheEuropean

ConventiononHumanRights

(OxfordUniversity

Press,4thed,2004)

167

FrancisDRose

(ed)

Consensusadidem:essaysin

thelawofcontractinhonour

ofGuenterTreitel

(Maxwell&Sweet,

1996)

100

SAChristensenet

al

LandContractsinQueensland (FederationPress,

3rded,2011)

51

Element Author Title Publicationdetails Pinpoint

reference

AGLCref Rule5.1 Rule5.2 Rule5.3 Rule5.4

! Note:

Theauthors’namesarewrittenoutinfullinthecitation.

Wherethereareuptothreeauthors,thenamesofthelastandsecond‐last

authorsareseparatedbytheword‘and’.

Wheretherearemorethanthreeauthors,justthesurnameofthefirstlisted

authoriscitedfollowedby‘etal’.

Ifabookiseditedbyasinglepersonuse‘(ed)’todenotetheeditor,or‘(eds)’if

therearemultipleeditors.

Thetitleofthebookiswritteninitalicsandshouldcopyexactlythetitleofthe

book:usethesamecapitalisation,punctuationanditalicisation.


46

Pinpointreferencing

Apinpointreferenceisplacedafteracitationanddirectsthereadertotheexact

page(s)orparagraph(s)inabook.Forexample,youwoulduseapinpointreferenceto

indicatethepage/paragraphnumberof:

aquote,or

whereaparticularpointismadebytheauthorthatyourefertoinyourtext.


Rule Examples

Aspace–nocomma–followsthebookcitationandthe

pagenumbermustbeprovided.



Areferencetomultiplepages,notnecessarilysequential

order,isshownbyusingacommainbetweenreferences.

FrederickPollockandRobertSWrightPossessioninthe

CommonLaw(LawPress,1990)99


CommonLaw(LawPress,1990)99‐104


CommonLaw(LawPress,1990)90,92‐96,99‐104

Ifthebookcontainsparagraphnumberingaswellaspage

numbering,apinpointreferencecanbemadebyaspace–

nocomma–followingthebookcitationandthe

paragraphnumberinsquarebrackets.


betweenthefirstparagraphofthesequenceandthelast.

Areferencetomultipleparagraphs,notnecessarily

sequentialorder,isshownbyusingacommainbetween

references.

Youmayalsopinpointboththepageandparagraph

numberiftheispossible.

PeterButtLandLaw(Lawbook,2010)[1537]

PeterButtLandLaw(Lawbook,2010)[1537]‐[1539]

PeterButtLandLaw(Lawbook,2010)[1537]‐[1539],[15

41],[1901]‐[19‐02]

PeterButtLandLaw(Lawbook,2010)301[1540]

Chaptersinbooks

See:AGLC,r5.5

Chaptersinbooksthatcontaincontributionsfrommanyauthorsarecitedthesame

wayasbooks,butwithadditionalinformationatthebeginningofthecitationthat

identifiestheauthorofthechapter.


47

Examples

Claire‐LiseBuis‘France’inMarkusThiel(ed),The‘MilitantDemocracy’Principle

inModernDemocracy(Ashgate,2009)75

CherylSaunders‘BeyondMinimalism’inSarahMurray(ed),Constitutional

PerspectivesonanAustralianRepublic:EssaysinHonourofProfessorGeorge

Winterton(FederationPress,2010)54

! Note:






Thetitleofthechapterisnotitalicised,butappearsinsingleinvertedcommas.

Thetitleshouldbewrittenexactlyasitappearspublished:usethesame

capitalisation,punctuationanditalicisation.

Pinpointreferencing

Pinpointreferencingchaptersinbooksisthesameaspinpointreferencingbooks

generally.SeePinpointreferencingforbooksonpage46above.


48

Journalarticles

SeeAGLC,r4

ThefollowingtableisadaptedfromtheAGLCandprovidesexamplesofhowtocite

journalarticles.

Examples

DAIpp ‘Judicialimpartiality

andjudicialneutrality:

Isthereadifference?’

(2000) 19 AustralianBar

Review

212 ,215

Keith

Mason

‘Ethicsandthe

Environment’

(2011) 10 TheJudicial

Review

187 ,188

Jessica

Palmer

‘ChasingaWill‐o’‐the‐

Wisp?Makingsenseof

BadFaithand

WrongdoersinChange

ofPosition

[2005] RestitutionLaw

Review

250 ,252

Jeremy

Masters

‘EasingtheParting’ (2008) 82(11) LawInstitute

Journal

68 69‐71

Element Author Title Year Volume

and

issueno

Journalname First

page

Pinpoint

ref

AGLCref Rule4.1 Rule4.2 Rule

4.3

Rule4.4 Rule4.5 Rule

4.6

Rule4.7

! Note:






Thetitleofthearticleisnotitalicised,butappearsinsingleinvertedcommas.

Thetitleshouldbewrittenexactlyasitappearspublished:usethesame

capitalisation,punctuationanditalicisation.

Thejournaltitleshouldbewritteninfullandnotabbreviated.‘The’shouldnot

beusedatthestartofthetitle.


49

Forjournalsorganisedbyvolume,theyearshouldappearinroundbrackets

‘(…)’.Forjournalsorganisedbyyear,theyearshouldappearinsquarebrackets

‘[…]’.

Volumeandissuenumber

See:AGLC,r4.4

Agivenvolumeofajournal,orajournalpublishedbyyear,willconsistofseveral

issues.Itisnotnecessarytoincludetheissuenumber,wherethepaginationofthefirst

issueiscontinuedfromthefirstissuetothelast.Thatis,wherethefirstpageofthe

secondissueisnumberedastheonefollowingthelastpageofthefirstissue,thefirst

pageofthethirdissueistheonefollowingfromthelastpageofthesecondissue,andso

on.

Conversely,wherethepaginationofeachissuecommencesatpageoneforeachissue,it

willbenecessarytoincludetheissuenumberinthecitation.Theissuenumberis

shownasanumberinroundbracketsfollowingthe:

volumenumber(ifthejournalispublishedbynumber),or

yearnumber(ifthejournalispublishedbyyear).

Pinpointreferencing

Apinpointreferenceisplacedafteracitationanddirectsthereadertotheexact

page(s)orparagraph(s)inajournal.Forexample,youwoulduseapinpointreference

toindicatethepage/paragraphnumberof:

aquote,or

whereaparticularpointismadebytheauthorthatyourefertoinyourtext.


Rule Examples


50

Rule Examples

Acommafollowsthejournalcitationandthepage




Areferencetomultiplepages,notnecessarilysequential

order,isshownbyusingacommainbetweenreferences.

BrianCoote‘VariationsSansConsideration’(2011)27

JournalofContractLaw185,186


JournalofContractLaw185,186‐288


JournalofContractLaw185,185,187‐189

Internetresources

SeeAGLC,r6.15

Theinternetisaveryrichsourceofsecondarymaterials.However,youmustcarefully

evaluatethecredibility,reliabilityandauthorshipofanymaterialyouuse.Scholarly

articlesusuallyincludeinformationaboutthebackgroundoftheauthor.Peerreviewed

journalarticlesaregenerallyreliableandyourlecturerwilloftenreferyoutothese

sources.

Wikipediaisnotconsideredtobeasourceofinformationtoberelieduponasakey

reference.

Bibliographies

SeeAGLC,r1.16

ForgeneralrulesonwritingbibliographiesseetheAGLCrule1.16pages33‐35.

Reviewingandediting

Yourfirstdraftwillneverbegoodenough.Valuablemarkscanbegainedbyleaving

enoughtimetoreflectonyourwritingandreviewitforerrorsandinconsistencies.

Whenreviewingyourworkcheckfor:

content,coherence,cohesion–doesitholdtogetherlogically?;

commongrammarerrorsthatreduceclarityofexpression

typographicalerrors(Seealso:‘Spelling’(page57)).

TIPS


51

Ifthereistimetoleavethedraftforadayormore,arereadingwithrefreshed

eyeswillusuallyrevealerrors.

Consideralsogivingyourwritingtoafriendorfamilymembertoread.Evenif

theyarenotlawyersandcannotcommentonyourlegalanalysis,theywillbe

abletopickupontypographicalerrorsyouhavemissedorcommentonthe

clarityofyourexpression.

Finishingafirstdraftwithdaystosparewillalsoallowtimetoreflection.Itis

commontosuddenlyrealiseafewdaysafteryouhavewrittensomethingthat

somethingmayhavebeenoverlookedorthattheargumentislogically

inconsistent.

WordLimits

Wordlimitsmustbeobserved,andstudentsmustnotdeviatefromthewordlimitby

morethantenpercent.Penaltiesfordeviationmaybestipulatedinsubjectoutlines

andthefaculty’ssubjectinformationbook.Thesuggestedwordlengthwillhelpyouto

remainfocussedontherealissuesinyourwritingandobservethelimitation.Thelegal

professionisincreasinglyrequiredtowritesubmissionsandcourtdocumentstoa

wordlimit.Clientsexpectconciseandrelevantadvice.Itisessentialinpracticeto

addressthecrucialissuesinaclear,succinctmanner.

Footnotes,bibliographiesandendnotesarenotusuallyincludedinthewordcount.

Grammar

Studentsarepresumedtoknowtherulesof:

grammar(theconventionsgoverningtheuseofwords);

syntax(thecorrectorderofwords);

semantics(themeaningofwords);

punctuation(thedivisionofwrittenorprintedmatterintosentences,clauses,by

meansofpointsorstops).


52

Useofthepassive

Thepassivevoiceisusedwhenthedoerofanactionorthesubjectofasentenceisnot

thefocusofthesentence.Itisoftenusedinlegalwritingtomakewritingseemmore

‘official’or‘formal’.Indeed,judgmentsoftenmakeuseofthepassivevoice.

However,overuseofthepassivevoicecancreatealeadenforcedtone.Itdoesnot

necessarilymakethetextsoundmoreformal.Youshouldtrytomixtheactivevoice

andthefirstperson(‘I’)withthepassivevoice.Usethepassivewhenyoudonotwant

tostressthesubjectoragentorthedoerofanactioninasentence.

Itisacceptabletousethefirstpersonwhereappropriate,particularlyinapieceof

reflectivewriting.Formoreguidanceonthis,seethenextsection.

Examples:

Passivevoice Activevoice

Thebankwasrobbedat2.30onFriday

afternoon.

NeddyWhiterobbedthebankat2.30

onFridayafternoon.

Theaccusedwasfined$1000bythe

judge.

Thejudgefinedtheaccused$1000.

ItmaybearguedthatBrownshould

haveknownoftheextenuating

circumstances.

IwillarguethatBrownshouldhave

knownoftheextenuating

circumstances.

Itmustbeestablishedwhetherthe

employerknew,oroughttohave

knownofthisspecialdisabilityand

thereforeexploiteditbyassentingto

thewrittenauthority.

Iwillestablishwhethertheemployer

knew,oroughttohaveknownofthis

specialdisabilityandtherefore

exploiteditbyassentingtothewritten

authority.


53

Useoffirst(I/me/us/we)andsecond(you)person

Thewriter’sopinionscanbeexpressedindifferentways.Theuseofthefirstperson

(‘I’/‘we’)isnotcommoninacademicwriting,butcanbeusedintherightcontext,such

asreflectivejournals.However,asageneralrule,youshouldavoidusingthefirst

personwhenexpressinganopinionasitisgiventhatyourwritingisanexpressionof

youropinion.Itisbettertoexpressargumentswithoutapersonalopinion,andtodraw

onthestrengthoftheresearchandargumentsconsideredinyouressay.

Examples:

Itwouldbeinappropriatetowrite:

Inlightofthesecases,Ithinkthelawisamess.

However,itwouldbeappropriatetowrite:

Thecasesconsideredinthisarticledemonstratethatthereisevidentconfusionastothescopeofthedoctrineof[x].ThisconfusionrequiresclarificationoftheHighCourt.Alternatively,itmightbeexpressedinthisway:‘Inthewriter’sview,thesecasesdemonstrateuncertaintyinthecourtsastothescopeofthedoctrineof[x]’.

InSampleAbelow,thestudentrepeatsthefirstperson,SampleBshowshowtoreduce

theuseofthefirstpersonandusemorepreciselanguage.

SampleA

Theconceptoffusionfallacyhasbecomesobroad….Howevertomymindthe

wordsofthelearnedProfessorTilburyseekprogressforprogress’sake….

WithinmyessayIwillprovideadvocacyforwhatIbelieveisequity’s….Within

suchIwillillustratethat….Iwillendbyturningtomodernlegalscholarship….

SampleB

Theconceptoffusionfallacyhasbecomesobroad….However,accordingtothe

argumentsmadeby….Thisessayarguesthat…equity….Inaddition,the

argumentwillbesupportedwithevidencefrom….Inconclusionthroughlooking

atmodernlegalscholarshipitmaybe…that….


54

! Note:Donotaddressthereaderdirectlyas‘you’or‘us’or‘our’becauseyoucannot

makeassumptionsaboutthereader’sposition.

Punctuation

Thefollowingisabriefintroductiontosomeofthemorecommonproblemsrelatingto

punctuationencounteredinacademicwriting.

Fullstops

Usefullstopsonlyattheendofsentences.Donousefullstopstoindicatean

abbreviation.

Examples

Type Donottype

CrimesAct1900(NSW),s5 CrimesAct1900(NSW),s.5

BarnesvAddy(1874)LR9CHApp244 Barnesv.Addy(1874)LR9CHApp244

MoyvBriscoe&CoLtd(1907)5CLR56 Moyv.Briscoe&Co.Ltd(1907)5CLR56

MrSmith Mr.Smith

Commas,colonsandsemicolons

Commascanbeusedtoseparateitemsinalist,topunctuateasentenceintomore

readableunitsandtoconnectclauses.

Example

Thejudge’sdecisionwaspredicatedonobtainingnewevidencefromthekeywitness;however,thewitnesswasabsentfromcourtthatday.

ThegreatestcomposersofalltimeareconsideredtobeBach,Mozart,BeethovenandBrahms.

Giventhatthejourneywouldtakefivehours,TomdecidedtofinishtheTolstoynovelhestartedreadingeightmonthsago.


55

Colonscanbeusedtoshowthatwhatfollowsarerelatedexamplesortointroducelists.

Example

Studentshavethreemainproblemswithwriting:notansweringthequestion,notdevelopinganargument,andwritingpoorparagraphs.

Semi‐colonscanbeusedtoseparatelongerentriesthatmaycontaincommas.

Example

Southerncitiesandstateshavebeenaffectedbytheash;Adelaide,SouthAustralia;Melbourne,Victoria;andHobart,Tasmania.

Orsemi‐colonscanbeusedtojointwosentencesthatarethematicallybutnot

grammaticallyrelated.

Example

Thebarristersuggestedabreakinproceedings;immediatelythecourtemptied.

Ampersands

Theampersand(‘&’)isusedtodenotedtheword‘and’.Asageneralruleyoushould

avoidusingitinplaceoftheword‘and’inyourwriting,unlessyouare:

quotingwritingthatusestheampersand;or

citingatitleorheadingofatextthatusestheampersand.

Apostrophes

Apostrophesareusedtoshoweitherpossessionorcontraction.

Possession

Usinganapostrophetodenotepossessionmeansthatyouareshowingthatanobject

belongstosomethingorsomeone.

Examples


56

Example Meaning

Harry’sgun. ThegunbelongingtoHarry.

Thedefendant’scross‐claim. Thecross‐claimofthedefendant

Ifasingularwordendsin‘s’thereisnoneedtoaddanother’stotheend.However,itis

notincorrecttodoso.

Examples

Example Meaning

Chris’redcar. TheredcarbelongingtoChris.

MrJenkins’shouse. ThehousebelongingtoMrJenkins.

Ifthesubjectisapluralandendsin‘s’,thenyoujustaddanapostrophe.

Examples

Example Meaning

Thegirls’changeroom. Thechangeroomforgirls.

Thedogs’owner. Thedogsbelongingtotheowner.

! NOTE:Ifthesubjectisinanirregularpluralformthatdoesnotendin‘s’,thenyouneed

toadd“’s”:


57

Examples:

Example Meaning

Thewomen’scollective. Thecollectiveforwomen.

Themen’sgroup. Thegroupformen.

Contraction

Acontractionindicatesthatlettershavebeenomittedfromaword,producinga

shorterversionofit.Theroleoftheapostropheistodenotethatthereareletters

missing.

Examples

Example Meaning Example Meaning

cannot can’t wouldnot wouldn’t

shallnot shan’t oftheclock o’clock

theyare they’re itit it’s

! NOTE:Donotusecontractionsinyouracademicwriting.Usingcontractioncangive

yourwritinganinformalorcolloquialtone,whichisinappropriate.

Spelling

Spellingcorrectlyisessential.Repeatedlymisspellinglegaltermssuggeststoyour

audience(oftenyourmarker)thatyouhavenotpaidattentiontoyourstudy.Italso

suggeststhatyouhavenotthoroughlypreparedyourworkorgivenitthelevelof

attentionthatitdeserves.Itisessentialtocheckyourworkbeforefinalsubmission.


58

Commonwordsandphrases,suchas‘negligence’maybearspecialisedlegalmeanings,

orbedefinedbystatuteorcaselaw.Youshouldalsobecertainofyourspelling,andnot

relyuponcomputer‐generatedspell‐checkswhichcannotdistinguishwhenawordis

correctlyspelt,butisthewrongword(eg,‘Ihavetohands’for‘Ihavetwohands’).

Macquariedictionary

TheMacquarieDictionaryistheauthoritativetextonAustralianEnglishspelling.

ItisavailableasanonlineresourceaccessiblethroughtheUniversity’sLibrarywebsite.

Simplysearchfor‘MacquarieDictionary’inthecatalogue.

There–they’re–their

Rememberthatalthoughtheysoundthesamethereisadifferenceinmeaningbetween

‘there’(place),‘they’re’(theyare)and‘their’(possessive).

Thereisused:

torefertoaplace

asapronounandthesubjectofasentencewhenconjugatedwiththeverb‘tobe’

asanadverb.

They’reisacontractionof‘theyare’.Onlyuse‘they’re’whenyouwouldsay‘theyare’.

Theirisapossessiveadjectivethatindicatesthatsomethingbelongsto‘them’.Only

useittodenotepossession.

Its–it’s

Thereisaverysimpledifferencebetween‘it’s’and‘its’:

its=possessiveadjective

it’s=contractionof‘itis’

Asimplerulewhenworkingoutwhichonetouseistoaskyourselfwhether‘it’s’canbe

expressedas‘itis’andifsodoesthesentencestillmakesense.


59

Examples

It’snotfair.=Itisnotfair.

It’sthebestthingthathaseverhappenedtome.=Itisthebestthatthathaseverhappenedtome.

It’swrittenhere,initstitle.=Itiswrittenhereinitstitle.

Spellchecking

Usethespellcheckfeatureonyourcomputerbutbeawarethatithaslimitations.

Aparticularproblemwithspellcheckisthatitwillnotidentifytheuseofawrongword.

Forexample:

barevbear

analysisvanalyses

theirvthere

you’revyour

Youmustcheckthatyouhaveusedthecorrectformofthewordyouwanttouseand

thecorrectspelling.Thiswillrequirecloseproof‐reading.

Beware!Autocorrectandlegalterms

Anotherfeatureofwordprocessorsoftwarethatisrelatedtothespellcheckeristhe

autocorrectfunction.Oftentheparticularspellingofcertainpreciselegaltermsarenot

storedinthewordprocessor’sdefaultdictionary.Ifthatsoftwarealsohasan

autocorrectfunctionenabled,itmaytakeyourcorrectlyspelledlegaltermsand

automaticallychangeitsspellingtoanordinaryEnglishwordwithverysimilarspelling.

ParticularculpritsinMicrosoftWordare:

parol→parole

estoppel→estoppels

Thereareprobablymore,sobeware!Thisisanotherreasontocarefullyreadandedit

yourworkbeforehandingitin.


60

Additionalresourcesonpunctuation,grammarandstyle

Foradditionalinformationaboutpunctuation,spelling,grammarandstylesee:

RWBurchfield,Fowler’sModernEnglishUsage(OxfordUniversityPress,2005)

(ThisistheAGLC‐officialguide)

PPeters,TheCambridgeGuidetoAustralianEnglishUsage(Cambridge

UniversityPress,2007).

EditingandProofreading

Itisimportanttoeditandproofreadwriting.Alwaysleavetimetoworkonadraft.

Generally,editingtakesplaceontwolevels.Ononelevelitreferstocheckingthe

structureofthewholetexttoseethatitflowsfromoneideatothenextandthatan

argumentisdevelopingandthattheconclusionislogical.Onanotherlevelproof

readingreferstocheckingspelling,punctuationandgrammar.

Numbers,datesandcurrency

Numbers

SeeAGLC,r1.12.1

Spelloutnumbersfromonetonine.

Numbersgreaterthan10shouldbewrittenasnumerals.

Wherenumbershavemorethanthreefigures,useaspacetoseparategroupsof

threefigures(notacomma).Numbersinthemillionsorhighermaybe

expressedas‘millions’or‘billions’,etc.

Percentagesareexpressedas‘Xpercent’.

Examples:

Thereareeightsheepinthemeadow.

Thedegustationmenuwasmadeupof11courses.

Approximately250000peoplesignedthepetition.

Thestereohadbeenreducedfrom$1225to$950.


61

BigCorppredictedlossesinexcessof$1.5million.

Happilyonlyfivepercentofstudentsfailedthissemester.

! Note:

Page,section,chapternumbers,etc,arealwayswrittenasnumbers,irrespective

ofwhethertheyarefromonetonineorgreater.

Neverstartasentencewithanumeral,unlessthatnumeralispartofaproper

noun.

Dates

SeeAGLC,r1.13

Datesshouldappearasfollows:[Day][Month][Year]

Examples:

1January1901

25December2011

Not:

1/1/1901

25thJanuary2011

Currency

SeeAGLC,r1.12.2

Monetaryamounts,whenitisclearsthatyouareonlyeverreferringtoAustralian

dollars,shouldbeshownas:$1000,$4,$32.65

Takecaretoensurethatyouputthecorrectcurrencytypebeforetheamount.

Followingaresomeexamples:

Figure Currency


62

AUD1500

A$1500

EitherformdenotesAustraliandollars

whereelsewhereinyourwritingyou

refertoothertypesofcurrency.

USD1500

US$1500

EitherformdenotesAmericandollars.

£1500

GBP1500

EitherformdenotesBritishpounds

sterling.

€1500

EUR1500

EitherformdenotestheEurozone’s

euro.

Formatting

Yoursubjectoutlineswilltellyouexactlyinwhatformatyourwritingshouldbe.

Alwaysensurethatyoucheckformattingrequirementsforaparticularassignment

beforehandingitin.Thefollowingaresomeformattingtipsthattendtobeusedforall

legalwritingandwhichexisttomakereadingeasier.

TIPS

Useoneconsistentfont(Arial11orTimesRoman12).

Headingsmaybeunderlined,inboldoruppercase.Butbeconsistent

throughoutthedocument.

Linespacingshouldbe2linesspacefornormaltext;1.5linespaceforindented

quotes.

Donotunderlinetypedtextinthebodyofyourparagraphs.Underlining(or

alternatively,bluetext)mayonlybeusedonhtmldocumentswherethe

underlinedtextishyperlinkedtoanotherwebpage.

Theleftmarginshouldbeapproximately3cmandright,topandbottommargins

shouldbeatleast2cm.


63

Putyournameandstudentnumberonthepaper.Considerputtingitonevery

pageinaheaderorfootersothatitiseasilyidentifiedifapagebecomes

separated.

Usepagenumbering.


64

Whatmarkersarelookingfor

Includedhereisasummaryoffeedbackfromvariouslawassessmenttasks:

Themostfrequentnegativecommentsfromlecturersarethatstudentsdonot

answerthequestionoronlygiveverybroadanswers.

Studentsdonotusecorrectcitation(alwaysconsulttheAGLC).

Studentsincludetoomanydirectquotesinplaceoftheirownwriting.Students

shouldparaphraseorsummariseideasusingtheirownwords.Thisshowsthe

lecturerthatthestudentunderstandstheissuestheyarewritingaboutandcan

connectthemtotheirownarguments.

Essayslackaclearstructure.Introductionsshouldbeclearlysetoutandshow

howandwhatwillbeaddressedintheessay.

Somestudentsuseareportstyleusingbulletpointsandnumbering.Avoidthis.

Studentsdonotclearlyandpreciselyaddresstherelevantissues.

Highermarksareusuallygivenforhavingaclearthesis,developingacritical

pointofview,referencingcorrectly,providingadiscursivecommentaryonthe

probleminthequestion,referringtoorsupportingthequestionstatementand

foraddressingtheassessmentcriteria.


65

Specificassignmenttypes

Havinglookedatthegeneralwritingskillsyouwilluseinanyexerciseduringyourlaw

degree,thisnextsectionwillexplorecertainskillsthatarerelevanttospecific

assignmenttypes.Inthissectionyouwillfindoutmoreon:

writingresearchessays

answeringproblemquestions

writingcasenotes

writinginexams.

Researchessays

Asthenamesuggests,thegistofaresearchessayistheresearch.Thiswillrequire

readingwidely,andsynthesisingandreconcilinginformationfromvarioussources.

Keywordsusedinthequestionsetbyresearchessaysinclude:‘criticallyanalyse’,

‘evaluate’,‘discuss’and‘argue’.

Whatare‘criticalskills’inaresearchessay?

Inresearchessaysyouareoftenaskedto‘criticallyanalyse….’orto‘criticallyevaluate

…’anissueraisedinaquoteoradecision,butwhatdoesthismean?

ThefollowingisadaptedfromtheGraduateAttributesHandbook2010:

Acriticalthinkerevaluatesinformationbybreakingitdownandexaminingitscomponentparts,ortakesdispersed,disconnectedideasandinformationandsynthesisesthemorcreatessomethingnewfromthem.17

Ananalyticalpersonappraisesandassessesthevalueandsignificanceoflegalissuesandviewpoints.18

Adiscussioninvolveslookingatbothsidesofthequestionweighinguptheevidence

andcomingtoaconclusion.Thatmeansbeingabletoidentify:

17GraduateAttributes2010,4

18Ibid,9


66

whatthewriteristryingtoargue

howthewriterisusingevidencetoconstructandsupporttheargument.

Italsomeansthatwhenyouwriteyoumust:

synthesiseideasfromdifferentsources

identifywherewritersagreeanddisagreeintheirargumentsandapproachesto

problems.

Criticalwritingismorethancriticisingideasanditismorethanadescriptionora

narrative.Beingcriticalmeans:

analysingtexts–breakingwhatyoureaddownintocomponentsand

consideringhowtheyallworktogether

askingquestionsofwhatyoureadandwrite–doIagree/disagree?WhydoI

agree/disagree?Hastheauthoroverlookedornotadequatelyaddressed

something?Wouldtakingadifferentperspectivetotheauthorvis‐à‐visthe

subjectmatterleadtoadifferentconclusion?

exploringallthesidesofanargument–consideringtheargumentsforacertain

positionaswellasagainstit.Evaluatingthepersuasivenessofthosearguments.

Stepstowritingaresearchessay

1. Planyourresponse(page66)

2. Researchthetopic(page67)

3. Makethoroughnotes(page68)

4. Writethefirstdraft(page70)

5. Reviewandedityourwork(page70)

Planyourresponse

Lecturerfeedbacksuggeststhatstudentsdonotanswereverypartofthequestion.

First,readthequestionthenhighlightornumberthevariouspartsofthe

question.Consider:

o Whatissuesareyoubeingaskedtoaddress?


67

o Whatareyoubeingaskedtodoinresponsetothoseissues?Lookatboth

thecontentwords(inthequoteorstatement)andthetaskverbs

(‘discuss’,‘criticallyanalyse’,‘evaluate’).

o anyissuesofdefinitionwhicharisefromthetermsofthequestionitself.

Usealegaldictionary,evenjusttocheckyourunderstandingofthe

terms.

o thescopeofthequestion:doesitaskyouaboutCommonwealthlaw,

Statelaw,orboth?Doesitaskaboutthelawasithasbeen,asitis,asit

shouldbe,oramixtureofthese?Areyouaskedtofocusonstatutelaw,

customarylaw,convention,orcommonlaw,orareallofthesepertinent?

Areyouaskedtoconsidernotjusttheblackletterlaw,butalsothepolicy

behindit?

Drawamindmapofyourfirstresponsetothequestionandthecentralissueor

issuesitraises.

Trytoseetheconnectionbetweentheissuesthatareraised.

Askyourself:doesmyresponsereallyanswerthequestion?

Tipsfromlecturers

makethemostofalltheinformationinthequestion

minorgrammarerrorsarenotasmuchofaproblemasnotansweringallparts

ofthequestioniefailuretoanswerthequestionasked

thinkaboutstructure–oftenmarksarelostduetothelackofasuitable

structure

lackofcriticalthinking–merelyregurgitatingthelawandthefactswithoutany

analysiswillnotearnyouhighmarks.

Researchthetopic

Beginwithsuggestedreadingand/ortherelevantweeksreadingforthetopic.

Startsearchingthroughpeerreviewedjournalarticlestofindrelevantmaterial

andbecomefamiliarwiththecurrentthinkingonyourtopic,buildupafieldof

knowledgearoundthetopic.Also,journalarticleswillmostlikelyleadtoyou

othersourcestoconsider.


68

DonotforgettheLibrary!Althoughitiseasytoforgetthatbooksarevaluable

resourcesintheageoftheinternet,theyoftencontainvaluableknowledge.

Takethetimetobrowsetheshelvesforbooksrelevanttoyouressay.

Domoreresearchifyouthinkthereisalackofevidencetosupportyour

argument.However,itisalsoimportanttoknowwhentostopreadingandstart

writing.Onceyoustartwriting,onlythenwillyoubecomeawareoffurthergaps

inyourknowledgethatwillrequirefurtherresearch.

Makethoroughnotes

Takecarefulnoteofimportantdetails,andespeciallyofkeycitationsfromdecided

caseswhichcanbeusedtosupportyourcontentions,orquotesbyauthorsofjournal

articlesorbooks.Toproperlycitematerialyoumusthavethebuildingblocks:author,

titleofsource,dateofpublication,page/paragraphreference.

Books

Record:

author's/editor’snameandtheauthorofanychapterswithinthebooktowhich

yourefer

titleofbook

yearofpublication

theeditionofthebookifithasseenmorethanoneedition

thepagenumber(s)ofwhatevernotesyoutake.

Journals

Record:

author'sname

titleofarticle

titleofjournal

yearofvolume

volumenumberandissue(ifrelevant)

pagenumberoffirstpage


69

pagenumberofanypagesfromwhichyourecordnotesorquotes.

Cases

Record:

thecasename

thelawreporttitle,yearandfirstpageofthereport(ifcaseisreported)

themediumneutralcitation(ifthecaseisunreported)

thecourt

theparagraph(s)orpagenumber(s)fromwhichyourecordnotesorquotes

theidentityofthejudge(s).

Makeyournotesrelevant

TIPS

Keepinmindthesubjectofyouressay.

Donotwritedowneverything;onlyextracttheinformationwhichcanhelpin

yourtask.Scanapieceonce,oreventwice,beforebeginningtotakenotesand

assessitsvalue.

Makenotesofrelevantopinionsexpressed,andofyourpreliminarythoughtson

thosepoints.Rememberthatyoushoulddevelopyourownarguments,andnot

simplyadoptsomeoneelse'sbecauseitmaynotsuityourspecifictopic.

OrganisingNotes

Onceyouhavetakennotes,orwhileyouarecompletingthisprocess,givesomethought

totheorganizationofthosenotes,soastomakeyourwritingtaskeasier.

TIPS

Organisenotesalphabeticallybyauthornameorcasename.

Usetabstoidentifythemostrelevantpages.


70

Writethefirstdraft

Referbacktoyourmindmapandtheinitialthoughtsyounoteddownbeforeyou

startedyourresearch.Hasyourresearchchangedyourthoughtsonthese?Makeany

necessarychangestoyourplan.Otherwise,referto‘Writingyourfirstdraft’onpage18

formoretipsonwritingyourfirstdraft.

Seealso:

‘Structuringwrittenwork’(page19)

‘Headingsandsub‐headings’(page19)

‘Introduction’(page20)

‘Body’(page21)

‘Conclusion’(page23)

andotherusefultipsonwritingaboveinthisGuide.

Reviewandedityourwork

See‘Reviewingandediting’(page50)


71

ProblemQuestions

Problemquestionscallforlegaladviceonthelawasitappliestoagivensetoffacts.

Thereforetoanswerthem,youmustthinkcarefullyaboutthefacts,andidentifythe

legalissuesarisingfromthem.Thesequestions,unlikeresearchessays,arenotso

muchconcernedwithpolicyissues,butblackletterlaw.Thatis,byapplyingthelawas

itcurrentlystandstothegivensetoffacts,whatwouldbethelegaloutcome?Hence,

preparingtoanswerproblemquestionstendstofocusonresearchingprimary

resourcessuchascasesandlegislation.

Objectivity

Thepointofaproblemquestionisto‘thinklikealawyer’byadvisingapersononthe

facts.Thismeansthatyoumustobjectivelyandrationallyassessthefactsandapply

thelawtothosefactsinordertopredictthelegaloutcome.Itisnotaboutalways

attemptingtocometoa‘happyending’foryourclientandyouarenotexpectedto

alwayscometosuchaconclusion.Sometimes,whenyouapplythelawtothefacts,

therewillbenoreliefinlawforyourclient.Yourroleasalawyeristoprovidethat

advice.Donotneedlesslystrainfactstosuityouridealisedoutcome.

Stepstowritingananswertoaproblemquestion






Planyourresponse

First,readthequestionthenhighlightornumberthevariouspartsofthe

question.Consider:

o Whatissuesareyoubeingaskedtoaddress?Or,whatlegalissuesarise

fromthefacts?


72

o thescopeofthequestion:doesitaskyouaboutCommonwealthlaw,

Statelaw,orboth?Areyouaskedtofocusonstatutelaw,customarylaw,

convention,orcommonlaw,orareallofthesepertinent?

Masterthefacts,theyareimportant!Drawdiagramsoftherelationships

betweenthepartiestoclarifyexactlywhatisgoingoninthequestion.Highlight

orunderlinematerialfacts.

Identifythegreyareas.Oftenproblemquestionsaredeliberatelysettotestyour

awarenessofunsettledareasofthelaw,ortoseehowyouapplyclearlawto

factsthatdonotclearlypointtoacertainlegaloutcome.

Drawamindmapofyourfirstresponsetothequestionandthecentralissueor

issuesitraises.

Researchthetopic

Onceyouhaveisolatedtheissuesinthetask,youshouldthenbeabletodirectyour

reading.Rememberthatyourjobasalawyeristoidentifythepertinentprinciplesof

law,andtostatehowthoseprinciplesoperateinthatfactualcontext.Indoingthis,

concentrateonhowthelawappliestothefactsofyourparticularproblem.

Startyourresearchbyreferringtoyoursettextbookandcaselist.Often,problem

questionsarenotsetasresearchassessments,soyouwillalreadyhavebeengiventhe

resourcesyouneedtocompleteit.

Dothefactsremindyouofanycases?Oftenfactswillbesimilarinsomerespectsto

casesyouhavelearnedinlectures.Ifthatisthecase,thenthatisastrongsignthatthe

issuesraisedinthatcasearerelevanttoyourproblemquestion.Youshouldresearch

thatcaseandnotesimilaritiesanddifferencesonthefacts.

Makethoroughnotes

Takecarefulnoteofimportantdetailsandespeciallyofkeycitationsfromdecided

caseswhichcanbeusedtosupportyourcontentions.Toproperlycitematerialyou

musthavethebuildingblocks:author,titleofsource,dateofpublication,

page/paragraphreference.


73

! NOTE:Problemquestionsareaboutapplyinglawtofacts.Forthisreason,

overwhelminglythesourcescitedinyourresponseshouldbecaselaworlegislation.It

isgenerallyNOTappropriatetociteyourtextbookasauthorityforanypropositionsof

law.

Cases

Record:

thecasename;

thelawreporttitle,yearandfirstpageofthereport(ifcaseisreported);

themediumneutralcitation(ifthecaseisunreported);

thecourt;

theparagraph(s)orpagenumber(s)fromwhichyourecordnotesorquotes;


Legislation

Record:

theshorttitleandyear

thejurisdiction

therelevantsectionsandsub‐sections.

Writethefirstdraft

Referbacktoyourmindmapandinitialthoughtsyounoteddownbeforeyoustarted

yourresearch.Hasyourresearchchangedyourthoughtsonthese?Makeany

necessarychangestoyourplan.

Wheretostart

Writeyouradvicebydealingwitheachoftheissuesthatarisefromthefactsinthe

mostlogicalorder.

Theorderwillbedictatedbytherelationshipsbetweentheissuesandthenumberof

parties.Aquestionoftheappropriateremedy,forexample,canonlybeconsidered

aftertheissueofliabilityhasbeendetermined.


74

Thereisaverysimple,logicalandeffectivewaytoapproachwritingresponsesto

problemquestionsandthatistousetheIRACapproach.

Seealso:




‘Body’(page21)




75

IRAC

IRACprovidesastructuretoansweringlegalproblemquestions.Inshort,IRACstands

for:

I IdentifytheISSUES

R StatetherelevantRULES(legalauthority)

A APPLYtherulestothefactsofthecase

C CONCLUDEontheoutcomeofapplyingthelawtothefacts

Eachelementisconsideredinmoredetailbelow.

BeforeyoucanapplyIRAC,youmustfirstassesstheentireproblemquestiontowork

outwhereIRACneedstobeapplied.Therefore,readthequestioncarefullyto

ascertain:

whatbroadareaoflawshouldbeappliedtothefactproblem(e.g.,contractlaw,

criminallaw,administrativelawetc);

whatcause(s)ofactionwithinthebroadareaoflawisrelevanttobasethe

client’scaseupon(e.g.,breachofcontract,misrepresentation,etc);and

whatelementsofeachcauseofactionneedtobeprovedordisproved.

Onceyouhavedonetheaboveandidentifiedthelive‘issues’thatneedresolution,you

applyIRACtoeachofthem.Liveissuescansometimesbebrokenupintosub‐issues,

andyouwouldapplyIRACtoeachofthosesub‐issuesaswell.

Example

Thefactsprovidedinaproblemquestionclearlyshowthatthebroadareaoflawtobe

appliediscontractlaw.Aclosereadingofthefactsdisclosethattheliveissuestobe

resolvedrelatetothedoctrinesofmisrepresentation,privityofcontractand

unconscionableconduct.Therefore,youalreadyknowthatIRACwillbeappliedthree

timesinyourquestionasyouaddresseachoftheliveissues.Itmightalsobeapparent

thatthemisrepresentationissuecanbebrokendownintotwosub‐issues:(1)proving

themisrepresentationand(2)a‘defence’againstit.Therefore,IRACcanbeappliedto

bothsub‐issues.


76

ReadthefollowingexampletoseehowtheapplicationofIRACtotheaboveexample

mightlook,itfocusesonthemisrepresentationissueandsub‐issues.

! NOTE:TohighlightwhereIRACisbeingappliedintheexamplebelow,theelementsof

IRAChavebeenputincolourinsquarebracketsintherelevantplaces.DoNOTdothis

inyourwriting;itisdonebelowpurelyfordemonstrativepurposes.

! NOTE:theuseofheadingstoclearlyindicatetothereaderthestructureoftheresponse

andwherecertainissuesarebeingconsidered.

Introduction

Susanseekstoavoidacontractofguaranteethatshehasenteredintoinfavour

ofherson.Thefactssuggestthatshemayhavearighttodosobyarguing

misrepresentationbytheBank…

[ISSUE]Misrepresentation

[RULES]Apartythathasenteredintoacontractrelyinguponthe

misrepresentationoftheotherpartytothecontractmayseektohavethe

contractrescinded1.Theelementsthatneedtobeprovenare:

1.Arepresentation…2

2.Madetotherepresentee…3

3.Intendedtoinduce…4

4.Thatinfactinduces…5

[APPLICATION]Applyingtheaboverulestothefactsofthiscase,wecansee

that…

[CONCLUSION]Therefore,itseemsthatSusanhasaviablecauseofactionto

havethecontractrescindedformisrepresentation.

[(SUB)ISSUE]Isrescissionavailable?

[RULES]Rescissionisonlyavailablewhen….6…

[APPLICATION]Applyingtheaboverulestothefactsofthiscase,wecansee

that…


77

[CONCLUSION]Therefore,itseemsthatrescissionisaviableremedyforSusan.

[(SUB)ISSUE]Howeveritshouldbenotedatcommonlawthatrescissionisnot

availableunless…7

[RULES]InXvY(2001)123CLR456,itwasheldthat…

[APPLICATION]Inthecontextofthesefacts,itisthereforepossiblethattheBank

mayarguethat…

[CONCLUSION]WhilsttheBankmayargue…itissubmittedthatthisdoesnot

makesubstantialrescissionanimpossibility,therefore…

Conclusion

Thereisaclearcaseofmisrepresentationhere.Susanthereforehastheright

to…SheshouldbemadeawarethattheBankmightargue…however….

I:Identifytheissues

Itisessentialthatyouidentifytherealliveissuesonthefacts.Thismeanslimiting

yourselftoonlydiscussionareasofcontroversy.Youwilllosemarksby:

failingtoidentifytheliveissues

discussingatlengthissuesthatarenotcontroversial.

R:Statetherelevantrules

Statetherulesyouaregoingtoapplyinasshortandsuccinctamannerasyoucan.Do

notforgettoproperlysupportyourstatementsoftherulesbyreferencetoproperly

citedprimaryauthority.

Youshouldconsiderthequestionofcomprehensiveness,andtheweightofauthorityof

eachcase.Forexample,thecourtconcernedmaynotbeanAustraliancourt,orit

mightbeinferiortothecourtyouarebefore.Ineithercase,itsdecisionwillonlybe

persuasive,notbinding.Perhapsthelegislationhasbeenamendedsincethatcasewas

decided,orthefactsmayhaveoccurredinasocialcontextdifferentfromthatwhich

prevailstoday,therebylesseningtheforceofanyconclusionsmadebythecourt.

Seealso:


78

Citation(page30)

A:Applytherulestothefactsofthecase

Statingthelawintheabstractandleavingitatthatisnottheappropriatemethodfor

writinganadviceonaproblemquestion,foritdoesnotexplainhoworwhythe

principlesyouhavedescribedarerelevanttothefactsoftheproblem.Itisnotsufficient

tostatethelawintheabstract,andthenconcludethatAorBmustwin.Theskillyou

mustdevelopasalawyeristhatofapplyingthelawtothefacts.Simplybeingableto

recitethelawparrotfashionisnogoodandwillearnyoulimitedmarks.

Youmustexplainhowthelawyouhavecitedappliestothefactsofyourproblem.Itis

unlikelythatthelawasstatedbytheauthoritieswillprovideyouwithacomplete

answertothequestionbeforeyou.Youwillhavetodevelopanargumentthat

encompassesthefactsinyourcaseandthelawasstatedbytheauthoritiesintheform

ofaproposition.Draftanysuchpropositioncarefullyandconsiderwhetheritis

sustainableinbothlogicandlaw.

Inyourapplication,dealwithanyissuesofcontroversywhichmightarise.For

example,wouldadifferentresultflowifoneparticulardecisionwasfollowed,rather

thananotherofequalauthority?Explainwhichdecisionistobepreferredandwhy.

C:Concludeontheoutcomeofapplyingthelawtothefacts

AlwayscometoaconclusionwhenapplyingIRAC,evenifitisjustashortconclusionto

asub‐issue.Theconclusionshouldneatlyandsuccinctlysumuptheapplicationofthe

lawtothefacts.Inmanycases,thesummarymaybejustaonesentencesummary.

Conclusionsinlawdonothavetobeallornothing.Oftenthelawyouarebeingtested

oniscomplexanddealswithanareathatisnotsettled.Thereforeitisacceptableto

concludeinthestyleofthefollowingexample:

Althoughtheissuesisnotfreefromcontroversy,itseemslikelythat…butthisisnotfreefromdoubt.

Becausethecurrentlawisunclear,itcannotbesaidwithcertaintyhowthisissuewillberesolved.Ifthecourtweremindedtofind[x]then[y].However,ifthecourtwheremindedtofind[a]then[b].


79

Itisexpectedthatyouwillargueinthealternativewherethefactsandlawdonotlead

toacertainconclusion.




80

Casenotes

Acasenoteisagenreoflegalwriting.Itisaconciseoverviewofacasethatincludesan

analysisofits:

correctness

valueaslaw

impact(ifany).

AcasenoteisNOTjustasummaryofthecase.Toomanystudentsassumeitis

sufficienttolistthepartiesandtheneditdownthefactsandanylegaldiscussiontofit

withinthewordlimit.

Theskillinwritingacasenoteisinbeingableto:

isolatetherelevantfactswhichgiverisetothelegalissue

explainthereasoningwhichhasledtothedecision,and

establishthecontextofthedecision.

Throughoutyourdegreeyouwillberequiredtowritecasenotesforvarioussubjects.

Intheseassessmenttaskstheexpectationisthatyourcasenotemaycontainthe

followingelements‐butnotnecessarilyinthisorder.

Elementsofacasenote

Element Action

Introduction Brieflyidentifythecasebypartynameandcitation,the

natureofthelegalissueorissuesandperhapssuggestwhy

thiscasemaybeofinterest.

Proceduralhistory Isitanappealfromafirstinstancedecisionorhavethere

beenaseriesofappeals?Ifthelatteritmightbeusefulto

discussthereasoninginpreviousdecisions.

Facts Whatarethecircumstancesinwhichthedisputearose?

Thinkaboutwhatisrelevanttothelaw.Youonlyneedto


81

provideenoughfactualinformationtoexplainhowthe

legalissuesarose.Identifythepartiesclearlyandbe

consistent.Forexampleavoidreferringtotheapplicant,

plaintiff,aggrievedpartyorpartybyname

interchangeably.

Legalissues Whatistheapplicablelaw,orwhathasbeenarguedtobe

theapplicablelaw?

Isthedisputeaboutdefiningspecificcircumstanceswhena

particularlegalprinciplemayberelevant?Forexample,

whetherinthecircumstanceshasadutyofcarearisenand

iftherehasbeenabreachofthedutyofcare;orwhethera

particularterminacontractbeinterpretedinaspecific

wayandifthattermhasbeenbreachedbasedonthat

interpretation.

Decision Whatistheoutcomeofthecase?

Whatwasthelawthejudgeorjudgesapplied?

Whatisthereasoningofthejudgeorjudgesthathasledto

thatoutcome?

Analysis Isthedecisionsupportedbythereasoning?

Ifitisasplitdecision(thereisadissentingjudgment)is

themajority'sapproachconvincing?

Ifthecaseistheoutcomeofaseriesofappealshowdoes

thedecisionreconcileorjustifyearlierdecisions?

Howhasthecasebeentreatedsubsequently?

Arethereanysocialimplications?Willthisaffectbusiness

practice?

Summary Whatcanyousayoverallabouttheimportanceofthecase?


82

Inordertocompletethecasenoteyoumayhavetodo

furtherresearch.Howwouldyoufamiliariseyourselfwith

thelaw?

Howwouldyoudeterminewhetherthecaseisimportant

ornot?

Stepstowritingaresearchessay






Planyourresponse

Usingthetableofelementsprovidedonpage80prepareaplanforyourcasenote.The

tableitselfprovidesafairlylogicalstructureforyourcasenote.

Researchthetopic

Readthecase!

Thecasewillprobablyrelatetoalegalprinciplestudiedinyoursubject.Read

thesuggestedreadingsand/ortherelevantweeksreadingforthattopic.

Startsearchingthroughpeerreviewedjournalarticlestofindrelevantmaterial

andbecomefamiliarwiththecurrentthinkingonyourtopic,buildupafieldof

knowledgearoundthetopic.Theremaybeexistingcasenotesonthecaseyou

havebeengiven–readthemtogainsomeideas.

Makethoroughnotes

Takecarefulnoteofimportantdetails,andespeciallyofkeycitationsfromdecided

caseswhichcanbeusedtosupportyourcontentions,orquotesbyauthorsofjournal


83

articlesorbooks.Toproperlycitematerialyoumusthavethebuildingblocks:author,

titleofsource,dateofpublication,page/paragraphreference.

Books

Record:

author's/editor’snameandtheauthorofanychapterswithinthebooktowhich

yourefer

titleofbook

yearofpublication

theeditionofthebookifithasseenmorethanoneedition

thepagenumber(s)ofwhatevernotesyoutake.

Journals

Record:

author'sname

titleofarticle

titleofjournal

yearofvolume

volumenumberandissue(ifrelevant)

pagenumberoffirstpage

pagenumberofanypagesfromwhichyourecordnotesorquotes.

Cases

Record:

thecasename

thelawreporttitle,yearandfirstpageofthereport(ifcaseisreported)

themediumneutralcitation(ifthecaseisunreported)

thecourt

theparagraph(s)orpagenumber(s)fromwhichyourecordnotesorquotes



84

Makeyournotesrelevant

TIPS

Keepinmindthesubjectofyouressay.

Donotwritedowneverything;onlyextracttheinformationwhichcanhelpin

yourtask.Scanapieceonce,oreventwice,beforebeginningtotakenotesand

assessitsvalue.

Makenotesofrelevantopinionsexpressed,andofyourpreliminarythoughtson

thosepoints.Rememberthatyoushoulddevelopyourownarguments,andnot

simplyadoptsomeoneelse'sbecauseitmaynotsuityourspecifictopic.

OrganisingNotes

Onceyouhavetakennotes,orwhileyouarecompletingthisprocess,givesomethought

totheorganizationofthosenotes,soastomakeyourwritingtaskeasier.

TIPS

Organisenotesalphabeticallybyauthornameorcasename.

Usetabstoidentifythemostrelevantpages.

Writethefirstdraft

Referbacktoyourmindmapandinitialthethoughtsyounoteddownbeforeyou

startedyourresearch.Hasyouresearchchangedyourthoughtsonthese?Makeany

necessarychangestoyourplan.Otherwise,referto‘Writingyourfirstdraft’atpage18

formoretipsonwritingyourfirstdraft.

Seealso:




‘Body’(page21)




85


Akeyelementinwritingagoodessayisleavingenoughtimetoedityourwork.Ifyou

canfinishearlyandgobacktoyourwritingafteradayorsoyoumightseeareasthat

couldbeimprovedorgrammarmistakesthatcouldbecorrected.



86

ReflectiveWriting

Beingabletothinkcriticallyaboutyourlearning,behaviourandresponsibilitiesisa

valuableelementindevelopingcommunicationskillsinordertointeractsuccessfully

withclientsandcolleagues.Reflectivethinkingisthefirststepindevelopingcriticalself

‐awarenessasanascentlawyer.Asresearchindicates,reflectivewriting,inpart,

contributestowardsdevelopingaprofessionalidentitybecause,‘Reflective

practitionersprobablyhavebettercollaborativerelationshipswiththeirclients’

(Neumann2000,p.411).

Reflectivewritingcanbeaveryusefulwayto‘capture’differenteventsandexperiences

throughoutyourdegree,sothatyouareabletoreturntotheseandreviewthemfor

differentpurposes.Therearemanydifferentwaystoengageinreflectivewriting:for

example,keepingapersonalprofessionaljournalcreatingblogsorportfoliostorecord

reflections.

ReflectivewritingismorethanaDESCRPTIONorasummary.

Reflectivewritingis:

expressive(Ilearnt,Ithink,Ifelt/feel,…), descriptive(whathappenedorwhatenhancedyourlearning), analytical(howaneventorreadingconnectstoyourunderstandingofatopic,

whatyouhavelearntandhowclearlyyoucanexpressit).

ThesamplesbelowshowthedifferencebetweenAdescriptivewritingandBreflective

writing.

A.ThearticlediscussescopyrightlawsinAustraliaandidentifiesdifferenttypesofintellectual

property.Itprovidesadefinitionofthe1995TradeMarkAct.InAustraliatherighttofirstuseis

givenpriorityovertherightformregistration….

B.Readingthearticleon‘TradeMarkOwnership’Irealisedthatatrademarkismorelikelya

sign…..TheotherkeypointIlearntaboutwasthattheauthorofthetrademark…Theother

interestingpointthatIcameacrosswasthat….Iwascompletelyconfusedby….untilIdidsome

furtherreadingthenIrealised…


87

Foradditionalinformationonreflectivewritingandreflectivejournalsgotothelibrary

websiteatthefollowingaddress:http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/help/study‐skills/group‐

work/thinking

Exams

Inordertoprepareforanopenbookexamyouneedtobefamiliarwithallthematerial

youarepermittedtotakeintotheexam.

Youwillsaveprecioustimebyhavingasysteminplacewithpostitnotesoranindex

thatallowsyoutonavigateyournotesandreadingsefficiently.Youwilluseamodified

versionofreferencing.

Youwillbeexpectedtostructureyouranswers,developargumentsandwriteclearlyin

plainEnglish.

Writingstrategies

unpackthequestion–highlightkeywords

identifyinstructionverbs–topicwords.Studentsoftenmisunderstandthe

differencebetweentaskverbs(‘explain’,‘justify’,‘analyse’,‘criticallyanalyse’)

managethetime–makeaplan.Usetheblankworkpageintheexamsbookletto

doaquickoutlineoftheessay.

apportiontimebythenumberofmarksavailableforeachquestionsandstickto

it.Itismucheasiertoachievethefirst50percentofmarksineachquestion

thantoperfectasinglequestiontoaHighDistinctionlevel.

structureyouranswerwithanintroduction,body,andconclusion–use

headingsinthebody

insteadofusingfullcitationsinanexamessayjuststatethecasename,or,ifone

ofthenamesisreallydistinctive,justthatcasename.(eg,‘WaltonStores’instead

of‘WaltonStores(Interstate)LtdvMaher(1988)164CLR387’).Iftherearetwo

caseswiththesamename,statetheyear.


88

underlineorhighlightyourcitations.Thisdrawstheeyeofthemarkertoyour

authoritiesandwillgivethemanimmediateimpressionastowhetheryouhave

correctlyidentifiedtheissues.

Ifyoudonothaveenoughtimetoattempteveryquestion,attemptabullet‐point

responsetotheremainingquestions.Youmaygainsomemarks(ifyouhave

addressedthecorrectissues).

Essayquestions

Acommonformoflawexamquestionisaquotefollowedbyaquestion.

Forexample,“Positivismhasprevailedovernaturallawtheory”.Doyouagree?Discuss.

Inansweringtheabovequestion,itisapparentthattherearetwoorthreepartstoit:

1. discussingwhatpositivismis,

2. discussingwhatnaturallawtheoryis,and

3. discussingtherelativeapplicationofeachtheoryinthelawtoday.

Acommonerrorwiththesequestiontypesisnotansweringallofthequestion.For

example,somestudentswillwritedownalltheyknowaboutpositivismornaturallaw

theory,butfailtosayiftheyagreeordisagreewiththepropositionthatpositivismhas

prevailedovernaturallawtheory.

Practise,practise,practise

Ifpossible,lookatpastexamquestionsonthelibrarywebsite,oraskyoursubject

coordinatoriftheywillmakesomeavailable.Ifyoucanpractisewritingexam

questionsunderthesameconditionsastheexam(limityourselftothesametimethat

youwillhaveintheexam)youwillbemuchbetterpreparedthanattemptingtheexam

withoutanypractise.Attheveryleast,youwillhaverehearsedhowyoucanengage

withwritingananswerandwillbeabletostartplanningandwritingmuchmore

quickly.Youwillalsohavebecomefamiliarwithlocatinginformationinyournotes.At

best,youwillhavepractisedwritingananswertoaquestionthatisverysimilartoone

thatisgivenintheexamandyouwillhavetosavetimewhenplanningyourresponse.


89

E‐mailcommunication

Whenwritingyoumustalwaysbearinmindwhoyouraudienceisandthecontextfor

yourwriting.Forexample,whenanemailisusedtocommunicatewithalecturer,a

workcolleagueoranemployeradifferentformofexpressionandtoneisrequiredthan

wouldbeusedwithafriend.

Whenaddressingalecturer,aworkcolleagueoranemployeryoumustuseamore

formaltone.Thatmeansnocontractions,notextstyleabbreviationsorcolloquial

language.

Youshouldalsousethecorrectformofaddressforthepersonyouarewritingto:‘Mr

…’,‘Mrs…’,‘Ms…’oruseanhonorific.Iftherecipienthasindicateditisacceptabletodo

soyoumayusetheirfirstname.Donotaddressapersonsimplybytheirsurnameor

with‘Hey!’or‘Hi!’

Whenyousignoffuse‘Regards’or‘Thanks’andyourname.

EmailfromtheUniversitytoastudentwillonlybesenttothestudent'sUTSemail

address.EmailsentfromastudenttotheUniversitymustbesentfromthestudent's

UTSemailaddress.Universitystaffwillnotrespondtoemailfromanyotheremail

accountsforcurrentlyenrolledstudents.Forfurtherinformationonemailetiquette,

see:


90

Bibliography

AspreyMichele,Plainlanguageforlawyers(FederationPress,2010)

BurchfieldRW,Fowler’sModernEnglishUsage(OxfordUniversityPress,2005)(Thisis

theAGLC‐officialguide)

CuttsMartin,OxfordGuidetoPlainEnglish(OxfordUniversityPress,2nded2004)

HaighRupert,LegalEnglish(CavendishPublishing,2004)

HutchinsonTerryCM,Researchingandwritinginlaw(ThomsonReuters/LawbookCo,

2010)

MacdonaldRos,andClark‐DicksonDeborah,ClearandPrecisewritingforToday’s

Lawyers,(ThomsonReuters,2009)

MelbourneUniversityLawReviewandMelbourneUniversityJournalofInternational

Law,‘AustralianGuidetoLegalCitation’(3rded2010)

NeumannRichardKJr‘DonaldSchon,thereflectivepractitioner,andthecomparative

failuresoflegaleducation’,(2000)(6)Clinicallawreview,401‐426

Peden,Elisabeth(2003)‘ContractualGoodFaith:CanAustraliaBenefitfromthe

AmericanExperience?’BondLawReview:Vol.15:Iss.2,Article12.

Alsoavailableat:

http://epublications.bond.edu.au/blr/vol15/iss2/12

PetersPam,TheCambridgeGuidetoAustralianEnglishUsage(CambridgeUniversity

Press,2007).

KirbyMichael,‘PlainConcord‐Clarity’sTenCommandments’(PresentedatthePlain

LanguageConference,Sydney,17thOctober2009)

Alsoavailableat:

http://www.michaelkirby.com.au/images/stories/speeches/2000s/2009+/2407.Spee

ch_‐_Plain_Langua9e_Conf.Sydney_October_2009.pdf


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RobertsonAndrew,‘TowardsaUnifyingPurposeforEstoppel’(1996)22Monash

UniversityLawReview1

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