Legal Studies November Exams

Strategies and Tips

by

Dale Chen

October 2014

Know how the exam operates:

• Exam Structure.– The exam has 3 Sections (A, B and C).– Sections A and B have 4 Parts (Government, Sources of

Law, Dispute Resolution and Crime in Society). – Section A requires you to answer 2 short answer

questions and Section B requires you to answer 2 essay questions. You cannot answer two questions from the same Part and you cannot answer an essay question and a short answer question from the same part.

– Section C has one compulsory essay on Topical Legal Issues (TLI)

Section C -Topical Legal Issues

• 60 mins (approx.)= 1/3 of the exam– You must discuss AT LEAST 2 TLIs– 100% of your marks for criterion 5 come from this

essay; therefore, it is critical you attempt this question and give it due consideration.

– Criteria assessed are: 3 – communication; 5 – tli knowledge; and 6 – analysis and evaluation.

Section B

• 2 essays from this section - 50 mins each (approx.)– There are 4 Parts to this Section and you must

chose your two essays from different Parts, i.e., your essays cannot come from the same Part, e.g., 2 essays from Crime in Society.

– Criteria assessed are: 3 – communication; 4 – knowledge; and 6 – analysis and evaluation.

Section A

• 2 x 10 mins. (approx.) short answers from this section = 20mins. – Your short answer questions cannot come from the

same Parts as your essay topics, e.g., if you do a Section B essay on Government you cannot also do a short answer from the Government Part of the Short Answer Section.

– Criterion 4 is assessed by these questions and the average of your two answers is combined with the criterion 4 awards you get for the Section B essays for your award for criterion 4.

Exam Strategy

Section C – TLI

This easy requires you do 3 things: • know your topics; • be able to link your topic to the legal system;

and • be able to analyse and evaluate your topic in

terms of the quote. You can thoroughly prepare yourself re knowledge and links to the legal system, the more difficult part is linking to the quote.

Knowledge

– It is much preferred to focus only on 2 topics; although passing reference to other topics, clearly relevant to the quote, can enhance your answer.

– Focus on developments in 2014 in relation to your topics.

– Background information can be important (i.e., pre 2014 developments around your topic) but be careful not to make your essay an historical narrative.

Links to the legal system

– It can be useful to methodically go through the main course topics {Nature and Function of the law; Government; Sources of Law; Dispute Resolution; and Crime in Society} and see if you can see any links that your TLIs have with these main course topics. A word of warning – don’t become too mechanical with this linking process because, obviously, there will be some aspects of the topics that you have chosen that connect more clearly with certain aspects of the main course topics.

Link to the quote

– Usually the quote is about change and the law or the function of the law.

– You should be referring to the quote regularly in the course of this essay and not just have summative comments at the beginning and end of your essay.

Section B Essays

• You only have to focus on two of the 4 main course topics for this section because you can only do two essays from 2/4 Parts from this Section. If you analyse the questions from each of the 4 Parts there seems to be 3 broad areas for each of the 4 Parts (there are 12 questions in this Section, 3 for each Part), which can enable you to focus on 2/12 of the topics for the exam or 1/6th of the course.

• BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT

• This would be the absolute minimum preparation and it is very important to have a PLAN B for each of the Parts you have chosen to focus on.

Main topics for Government

– Federalism – there can be a number of different foci for this question (how federalism operates, how power has shifted to the Comm., why power has shifted to the Comm., the adv. and disadva. of federalism and alternatives/reforms of federalism). Make sure you can handle any combination of question if you have chosen this topic. • The main High Court decisions are important but more for their consequences rather than for

their facts. General cases = Engineers Case, Brisaln + Jones, Koowarta + Franklin Dam, Toonen, Work Choice and the money or vertical fiscal imbalance cases = the Roads Case, the Uniform Tax Cases and the Ha Case. The former set goes to the increase in sovereignty and the latter set to the increase in influence for the Commonwealth.

– The Westminster System of Government – This topic usually focuses on the main features of this system of government and how they protect our notion of a representative, responsible and democratic system of government. Alternative subsets of question around this broad topic could be as narrow as: a discussion of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers or the Independence of the Judiciary in protecting the system of government

– International law – This essay, recently, has focused on how international law has developed and how effective it is, especially in relation to enforcement. This has not been a popular topic with students but those students who have a genuine interest in this area do well.

Main topics for Sources of Law

– Legislation has always been the focus of one question (and occasionally two). The question usually focuses on the effectiveness of the legislative process.• The question could look at the legislative process broadly or narrow its focus to

either the Tasmanian or the Commonwealth Parliament.• Some questions have focused exclusively on the role of the upper houses.• Rarely, there has been a question on the delegated legislative process.

– Judge made law has always been a question. Aside from the development of common law, you need to include the role of judges as interpreters of legislation (which is their more primary role these days). In evaluating judges roles, you need to refer to the Doctrine of separation of powers, in particular the importance of the independence of the judiciary.

– Reforming the law is generally a topic. Understanding the formal and informal mechanizes for influencing changing the law and their effectiveness is important for this question.

Main topics for Dispute Resolution Processes

– The trial function and process in the adversarial context has always been a question. Knowing the features of a fair and just trial process (e.g. principles of ‘natural justice’ etc.) and evaluating the features of the adversary trial process in relation to these broad functions of an ideal trial process is important. Having a grasp of reforms and alternatives to the adversary process and measures undertaken to overcome the disadvantages of the adversary trial process are also important.

– An evaluation of the function of the jury, especially in criminal trials, has always an exam question to date. You need to understand the role of the jury, the selection process, the advantages + disadvantages of the role and function of juries and reforms of+ alternatives to juries.

– ADR, as an alternative to litigation, has been a very regular question. There are a growing number of alternatives for criminal matters vs. civil matters, so make sure you include them in your discussion. If asked to chose a selection of ADRs to comment on it is useful if your selection is diverse (e.g. not the usual arb. + conc. + med. + neg.). ADRs have many positives when compared with litigation but be sure to deal with their disadvantages.

Main topics for Crime in Society

– ‘Police powers’ has been a regular topic over the last few years. The theme of ‘protection’, which is one of the main functions of the law, runs through this topic, i.e., protection of society and also the rights of the accused. ‘Rights’ is another undercurrent theme, i.e., the rights of the police to exercise their powers and the rights of the accused against abuse of power. A reasonable knowledge of some of the main powers of the police (e.g. search, questioning, arrest, forensic tests, surveillance, detention, charge etc.) in relation to children, adults and terrorist matters is needed.

– The rights of the accused and the victim in the criminal process has also be a common question. There has been a growing recognition of the rights of the victim and a winding back of the rights of the accused. When looking at the accused, their rights can be divided into pre-trial, trial and post trial. There are some key rights that run through processes that need to be discussed, e.g., right to silence, right to representation, principles of natural justice, onus and standard of proof etc..

– Punishment has always been on the paper; sometimes in conjunction with sentencing principles. The main thrust of questions has been determining whether the aims of punishment are satisfied by the sentencing options available to the courts. It can be difficult to discuss all the sentencing options, so a good cross-section needs to be selected. Make sure you identify restorative/therapeutic examples, as well as imprisonment and fines (which represent the extremes of options). It is useful to include some alternative options that have been suggested (e.g. home detention and week-end detention). Given how topical suspended sentences are this year, this option should not be neglected.

Section A Short Answers

• There are 4 question from each of the 4 Parts of Section A = 16 question. However, you only have to do 2/16 = 1/8 = 12.5% of the questions. Choosing the questions can be tricky. However, if you know broad areas you can be more certain of preparing appropriately, e.g., if you were not doing an essay from the Dispute Resolution processes Part in Section B, it would be worthwhile looking at the short answer questions on Juries (as there is usually a short answer question on this topic).

• It is worthwhile looking at the main topics listed under Section B and analyzing past question on one of the topics with which you felt confident and using that as you spring board for the exams.

Some regular question BUT DON’T RELY ON THESE COMING UP IN 2014!!

• Government– Section 109 of the Constitution– Section 128 of the Constitution– Explain federalism in Australia– Explain Separation of Powers– Explain the Westminster system of government– Explain the role of the Governor or GG.– Explain the concept ‘rule of law– How is international law made and how is it introduced to our domestic law?

• Sources of Law– How is a bill passed through the Tasmanian/Commonwealth Parliament?– Delegated/subordinate legislations – controls on delegated authorities.– Private members bill.– Different ways to initiate law reform.– What is common law?– The Doctrine of Precedent and the meaning of different terms – [stare decisis, ratio decidendi

and obiter dicta], [binding, and persuasive], [overrule, reverse, distinguish and disapprove].

More short answer topics• Dispute Resolution Processes

– There are a few jury questions: re role, composition, selection, and different verdicts. Make sure it is or is not only confined to criminal juries.

– The difference between criminal and civil matters.– Explain the jurisdiction of key courts, esp. the High Court.– Explain the role of the judge in the adversarial process.– Explain the role of various legal services: e.g. Ombudsman, Legal Aid, and Community

Legal Services.– Describe the role of various ADRs.

• Crime in Society– Bail– Police powers– Categories: summary vs. indictable, white collar, organized etc.– Elements of a crime: mens rea and actus reus and crimes of strict liability.– Victims rights– Accused rights

Exam Tips

• Tips in the Exam• • Have ID number + water + more than one pen• Be tough with time frames, e.g., don’t spend too much time on short answer questions because you know

them well.• Start with something with which you are confident (some start with short answers because they are factual).• Don’t leave TLI essay until last.• No matter the question, try and use topical events to illustrate your points.• Take a break if you feel stuck (loo stop or water stop or a breather stop).• If you have prepared well and the question on your topic looks very unfamiliar (a curly one!), remember,

chances are every other student in the state who prepared this topic will be feeling the same as you.• Focus on the question asked not the question you were hoping for.

• Tips before the Exam

• You can’t adequately prepare for all possible questions, so narrow your choice of questions. Don’t be too narrow and have a ‘Plan B’ where you have choice, i.e., for Sections A and B.

• Look at the past examiner’s comments for your chosen topics.• Use past exams to look at the variations for the topics you have chosen.