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The information below is relevant from 05/03/2018 to 07/03/2021
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LAWS11060 - Criminal Law

General Information

Unit Synopsis

LAWS11060 Criminal law provides knowledge of the procedures of and general doctrines of criminal law with emphasis on offences against the person (including murder, manslaughter and assault) and against property (including stealing) as expressed in the Queensland Criminal Code. Selective treatment is given to various defences and to the elements of criminal procedure. This unit together with LAWS13010 Evidence and Proof meets the LPAB requirements for criminal law and procedure.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Corequisite: LAWS11057

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2020

Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 3 - 2021 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2022 Profile
Online
Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Online

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).

Assessment Overview

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 40%
2. Examination 60%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 92.86% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 26.17% response rate.

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.

Source: Survey, verbal comments to the UC, email communication to the UC.
Feedback
Students spoke positively of the availability of the unit notes, podcast and assessment information on the day Moodle went live as it gave students an opportunity to commence their study before week one.
Recommendation
The UC will continue to have all unit materials, podcasts and assessment information available on Moodle the day the unit goes live to give students an opportunity to prepare for the unit before week one.
Action Taken
Implemented with all material available Moodle went live.
Source: Verbal comments to the UC in Zoom sessions and in email communication to the UC
Feedback
Students enjoyed the practical aspect of assessment one where they wrote submissions for a bail application as it gave students an insight into legal practice as a criminal lawyer.
Recommendation
The UC will continue to design and implement assessment tasks that have an advocacy component. Given the size of Criminal Law (averaging 150 to 180 students per offering) that is likely to be written submissions in respect of a real-life criminal law scenario which may include a bail application or a sentencing hearing.
Action Taken
Implemented, assessment one students were required to prepare written submissions for a Magistrates Court bail application.
Source: Survey and email to UC.
Feedback
Some students questioned the use of a textbook published in 2020 for the offering of this unit in 2021 and that textbook information could be made available before the term commences.
Recommendation
The use of a 2020 textbook in 2021 should not be considered out of date. The law changes almost weekly in most areas of the law, for example, new legislation, amendments to current legislation and new case law. A textbook is a resource to direct the reader to further research. The UC will make sure that the most appropriate textbook that covers as many of the topics studied will be prescribed. The textbook information is available in the unit profile which is published more than one month before the unit goes live. Further, the textbook details are available on Moodle when Moodle goes live, which is two weeks before week one.
Action Taken
Unit notes were updated, weekly live Zoom sessions covered the law from a recent perspective drawing on current case law and journal articles in criminal law.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Students gave positive feedback of the discussion in Zoom sessions of each topic from a practical perspective.
Recommendation
The Unit Coordinator will continue to discuss each topic in the weekly live Zoom sessions from a practical perspective to show students how the law is practice.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Positive feedback of the first assessment task that required students to prepare written submissions for court.
Recommendation
Criminal Law will continue to adopt a practical based assessment task in future offerings which will require students to prepare written submissions for a practical scenario. A practical based task will develop students' skills in identifying legal issues and preparing a succinct legal argument.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Analyse and explain criminal law offences against the person and against property
  2. Analyse and explain the elements of the criminal offence or defence, and the onus and burden of proof
  3. Research and apply principles of criminal law in Queensland as expressed in legislation and case law to the analysis of criminal law problems
  4. Apply skills in communication, critical legal thinking and reasoning.


Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment • •
2 - Examination • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • •
3 - Critical Thinking •
4 - Information Literacy • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Examination • • • •