Overview
This unit introduces you to the study of law by examining the history out of which our law developed and examining how the law responds to the socio-legal conditions of our time. It provides you with an awareness of the institutions which are created by the law and how those institutions shape the development of the law. You will be introduced to the notion of legal reasoning: distinguishing the 'dicta' and 'obiter' of cases, precedent theory, case analysis, following and distinguishing precedent; as well as distinguishing between primary and delegated legislation. This unit introduces you to legal discourse and the conventions of the discipline which will provide a foundation for study in more advanced units.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student feedback
Time management issues around assessments, working through material, amount of reading, time spent on completing assessments and take-home paper.
Some students would benefit from the option to take time management instruction, assistance with setting study goals and the preparation of a study timetable to be more realistic about what time they need to set aside for the 12 weeks of the course. The office of learning and teaching could consider providing such additional assistance.
- Describe and discuss the rule of law, the nature of the Australian legal system and ethical responsibility
- Explain how the law is made and developed in Australia
- Demonstrate basic skills in legal research and writing using appropriate referencing standards
- Develop basic skills in critical legal thinking, reasoning and reflection.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
1 - Portfolio - 20% | ||||
2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||
3 - Written Assessment - 40% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
1 - Communication | ||||
2 - Problem Solving | ||||
3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
4 - Information Literacy | ||||
5 - Team Work | ||||
6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
8 - Ethical practice | ||||
9 - Social Innovation | ||||
10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
1 - Portfolio - 20% | ||||||||||
2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
3 - Written Assessment - 40% |
Textbooks
Learning Law
Edition: 1st edn (2017)
Authors: Marinac, Simpson, Hart, Chisholm, Nielsen & Brogan
Cambridge University Press
South Melbourne South Melbourne , Vic , Australia
ISBN: 9781316642795
Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 3rd ed
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
w.jones@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Module One consists of three components:
1. Lawyers and the Law
2. The History of the Law
3. Theories of the Law
Chapter
Learning Law, Chapters 1 and 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Attend Online Tutorials
Complete Module Worksheet.
Module/Topic
Module two consists of four topics:
1. The Parliament
2. The Legislative Process
3. Finding and Reading Statutes
4. Statutory Interpretation
Chapter
Learning Law, Chapters 3,4,6 and the supplementary online material on Statutory Interpretation
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment One is due at the end of Week 4
Attend Online Tutorials
Complete Module Worksheet
Popular Culture and the Law Due: Week 4 Friday (3 Aug 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Module Three consists of three topics:
1. The Court System
2. Finding and Citing Cases
3. Reading Cases Effectively
Chapter
Learning Law, Chapter 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Attend Online Tutorials
Complete Module Worksheet.
Module/Topic
Module Four consists of topics:
1. The IRAC Method of Legal Reasoning
2. Persuasion and Advocacy
3. The Facts and the Evidence
Chapter
Learning Law, Chapters 7-9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Two is due at the end of Week 10
Attend Online Tutorials
Complete Module Worksheet
Research Exercise & Legal Problem Solving Due: Week 10 Friday (21 Sept 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Module Five consists of five topics. Students must do the first topic but may then choose at least one of the remaining four.
1: The Legal Profession
2: The Law and Indigenous Australians
3: The Law and Women
4: The Law and LGBTI Australians
5: The Law and Religious Australians
Chapter
Learning Law, Chapters 10-11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Attend Online Tutorials
Complete Module Worksheet
Take Home Paper Week 12
1 Portfolio
Consider the material and some of the concepts you have read about in Topic one. Identify one of your favourite pieces of popular culture about the law or lawyers i.e.. a movie, a book or a television show. (Think for example "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Pelican Brief", "The Man Who Sued God").
Draw on examples such as the storyline in the book, scenes or plot lines from the film or television program to demonstrate or explain at least two of the main concepts you have been studying or thinking about.
In particular, explain how your piece of popular culture gives you a context to better understand the meaning of the legal concepts you have been reading about.
1000 words
Week 4 Friday (3 Aug 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 6 Friday (24 Aug 2018)
- Demonstrated understanding of at least two of the key legal concepts discussed in Module 1.
- A logical connection with an appropriate item of popular culture.
- Demonstrated context or meaning of the legal concepts through examples which can be understood.
- Good written communication skills.
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
- Describe and discuss the rule of law, the nature of the Australian legal system and ethical responsibility
- Develop basic skills in critical legal thinking, reasoning and reflection.
2 Written Assessment
Two exercises worth 20% each.
The first exercise is locating caselaw and legislation to demonstrate researching skills.
The second exercise is to discuss your process for legal problem solving. Use material you are introduced to in the first half of the course to outline a process you may be able to actually use as you progress through your degree. Some of the steps you should consider for your model would include these:
• Gathering and identifying the relevant facts and identifying the legal issues.
• Locating and researching the most relevant and up to date legislation and case law.
• Applying the law to the facts to come up with a conclusion.
• Communicating your advice in the way most appropriate for your client.
Week 10 Friday (21 Sept 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 12 Friday (5 Oct 2018)
- Demonstrate an awareness of, and ability to use, key research tools described in the unit.
- Demonstrate capacity to locate legislation and case law.
- Shows a sound grasp of basic legal research methodology.
- Material written and presented professionally.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Describe and discuss the rule of law, the nature of the Australian legal system and ethical responsibility
- Explain how the law is made and developed in Australia
- Demonstrate basic skills in legal research and writing using appropriate referencing standards
- Develop basic skills in critical legal thinking, reasoning and reflection.
3 Written Assessment
Take Home Paper
In week 12 you will be presented with a take home paper with 48 hours to complete. This is a standard 3 hour exam you may complete at home and submit at any time during a 48 hour period. It does not require 48 hours to complete the exam.
Your response must be submitted by the due date and time with no extensions permitted.
The exam will include a combination of theoretical and problem questions.
Special Note:
Working to a short deadline and submitting on time are part of what is being assessed.
CQU Assessment Procedure does not allow late submission with a percentage penalty for take home exam papers. Late submissions cannot be marked.
Applications for a deferred examination can still be made in the usual way in the case of extraordinary circumstances.
Due 48 hours from the day of release of the paper at the end of week 12 - Questions released Wednesday 3rd October 2018 17:00 and responses due Sunday 7th October 2018 17:00. (NB. Date of release to be confirmed in week 2.)
Normal examination conditions apply. The final online paper is not returned to students. Take home paper results are released with certification of grade. Feedback is provided to the whole class in the form of an answer guide after the due date in accordance with University assessment policy.
- Identified and discussed relevant facts.
- Identified and discussed relevant legal issues.
- Relevant cases, legislation and interpretation rules identified and applied.
- Logical analysis of the issues and law lead to a well argued conclusion.
- For the theory question logical conclusions which evidence understanding and consideration of material covered.
- All of the required elements of the task completed professionally and the opinion is concise and well presented.
Students should also familiarise themselves with the University policy on assessment which sets out the criteria for high distinctions, distinctions, credit and pass marks in some detail.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Ethical practice
- Describe and discuss the rule of law, the nature of the Australian legal system and ethical responsibility
- Explain how the law is made and developed in Australia
- Demonstrate basic skills in legal research and writing using appropriate referencing standards
- Develop basic skills in critical legal thinking, reasoning and reflection.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.