Legal Semester 1

• Justice


  The principle of upholding generally accepted rights, enforcing responsibilities, and producing fair and equal outcomes
• Concepts of justice


  • Formal (natural justice or procedural fairness)
  • Substantive (involving equality, fairness, and access)
• Procedural fairness


  • Right to a fair trial (knowing the case against you)
  • Freedom from bias
• Equality


  The state or quality of being equal, having the same rights or status
• Fairness


  Impartial behavior or treatment without discrimination or favoritism
• Barriers to justice


  Costs, social, language, literacy
• Penal populism


  Media driven political process whereby politicians compete with each other to impose tougher prison sentences on offenders based on a perception that crime is out of control
• Aggravating factors


  • Breach of trust
  • Vulnerability of victim
  • Substantial injury
• Mitigating factors


  • Youth
  • Prospects of rehabilitation
  • First time offending
• General deterrence


  Repeated offender
• Denunciation


  Public and needs to be heard
• Specific knowledge of a case will change your perspective and put more weight on aggravating factors but similar weight to mitigating factors
• Public opinion of a case is different because they don't have all the information
• Merit


  Stereotype of all the judges/jurors in Australia, still good, qualified people but the obstacles put in front of you are harder if you don't fit the stereotype (white, old, male)
• Law


  Set of rules imposed on all members of the community which are officially recognised as binding and enforceable by persons or organisations such as the police and/or courts
• Social contract


  An agreement either explicit or implicit, between the government and the governed (individuals)
• Reasons to obey the law

  • Consequences
  • People's morals consider it "bad"
  • You put your part into a community
  • You benefit if others do the same
• Reasons to break the law

  • Wants
  • Emotions
  • Disadvantaged backgrounds
• Disadvantaged backgrounds


  Low education levels, parent/carer in jail before, unemployed, homeless
• It can be inferred that many criminals come from disadvantaged backgrounds, which means these are strong contributing factors to what motives a criminal has. People can justify this behaviour because you take into consideration that the criminal most likely did not have a decent upbringing
• Civil disobedience


  The active professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government or any authority
• Ways law is made

  • By people
  • Parliament
  • Courts
• Members of the society have a right to participate in law making
• The same/fair consequences for people's actions
• Rule of law


  The principle that every person and organisation including the government, is subject to the same laws
• Principles of the rule of law

  • Government must be bound by a constitution (basic rules)
  • Independent judiciary
  • Controls on law enforcement agencies/police
  • Criminal laws cannot be retrospective (looking back on or dealing with past events or situations)
  • The accused must be informed of allegations
  • The accused cannot be forced to incriminate (guilty of the crime)
  • Human rights (e.g. freedom of association, speech and religion) are all protected
• Ways land can be acquired under international law

  • Conquest (invaded and killed people)
  • Cession (agree to give up land under pressure)
  • Purchase (buying and selling)
  • Discovery (terra nullius - no one's there)
• Constitution


  A set of rules for government, sustain the democracy, put rules around the power
• Australia is an independent nation with the British and a federation (a system of government compromising a national government and lower state of government)
• To achieve a federation

  1. Create a constitution for new federal government

  2. Put that constitution to a referendum for approval
• Key features of the constitution

  • Head of state
  • Prime minister
  • Opposition leader
  • Separation of powers (judicial, legislature, executive, H of Reps, Senate)
  • Referendum (majority of people and states, judicial)
  • Division of powers (state, local, federal)
• King Charles


  Represented by the governor general in Australia
• Prime minister


  Appointed by party forming government, not directly by people
• Opposition leader


  Main party not in government (important so they can look at pros and cons and not all decisions are made by one party)
• Separation of powers


  Limits government power by splitting it amongst 3 arms of government: Legislative (parliament creates laws), Executive (departments administers laws), Judiciary (courts interprets/applies the laws)
• Legislature


  Head of state, house of reps, and senate
• Executive


  Administrating laws passed by Legislature (comprised of ministers who head up departments of public servants who implement government policy)
• Judiciary


  System of courts within a nation (to decide whether laws are constitutional and to enforce the law)
• The high court has to interpret the constitution (original jurisdiction in that court) and be the final court of appeal for cases from around the country (appellate jurisdiction-appeals to that court)
• Division of powers


  Limits government power by dividing it between the federal and state governments