Intro to Law Notes - Weeks 1 -10 PDF

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LLB101 –INTRODUCTIONTO LAWTable of Contents....................................................................................................................................................Table of Contents Table of Contents.............................................................................

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LLB101 – INTRODUCTION TO LAW

Table of Contents Table of Contents....................................................................................................................................................1 Weeks 1 to 3 – Introduction to Law........................................................................................................................3

What is Law? Sources of Australian Law.....................................................................................3 Legislation........................................................................................................................................3 Passage of Legislation through Queensland Parliament..............................................................3 Passage of Legislation through Commonwealth Parliament.......................................................4 Delegated/Subordinate Legislation................................................................................................4 Common Law..................................................................................................................................4 What is a ‘case’?..............................................................................................................................4 Doctrine of Precedent - Stare Decisis.............................................................................................4 Legislation and Common Law.......................................................................................................5 'Custom' as a Source of Law..........................................................................................................5 International/comparative law as a Source of Law......................................................................5 Reception of English Law...............................................................................................................5 After reception of English Law......................................................................................................6 Federation........................................................................................................................................6 De-Colonisation - The legislature...................................................................................................6 De-Colonisation - The courts..........................................................................................................6 The Federal System.........................................................................................................................6 Commonwealth Constitution..........................................................................................................6 Bill of Rights....................................................................................................................................7 Three Branches of Government.....................................................................................................7 Legislature.....................................................................................................................................................7 Executive.......................................................................................................................................................8 Judiciary........................................................................................................................................................8

Separation of Powers......................................................................................................................9 Rule of Law......................................................................................................................................9 Week 4 – Ethics.......................................................................................................................................................9

Ethics and the Law Student............................................................................................................9 Duties and obligations...................................................................................................................10 What is an ethical dilemma?.........................................................................................................................10 Ethical obligations owed to clients...............................................................................................................10 Ethical obligations owed to the court and to the administration of justice..................................................10 Week 5 – Court Hierarchies.................................................................................................................................10 Week 6 – Doctrine of Precedent...........................................................................................................................13

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Background...........................................................................................................................13 Basic Rule..............................................................................................................................13 Same appellate hierarchy..............................................................................................................................13 Common Apex rule.......................................................................................................................................14

Decision not unanimous...............................................................................................................................14

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Cases that are not binding....................................................................................................14 Decisions of the same court..........................................................................................................................14 Decisions from other hierarchies..................................................................................................................14

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Special Rules re Privy Council.............................................................................................15 Special Rules re PC on State or Territory Courts.........................................................................................15

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Resolving conflicts between equally ranked cases..............................................................16

Week 9 – Case Law...............................................................................................................................................17

What is case law?..........................................................................................................................17 Case Law and Legislation.............................................................................................................17 Case law and the court hierarchy................................................................................................17 Doctrine of Precedent – Stare Decisis...........................................................................................17 Rationale of the Doctrine of Precedent........................................................................................17 When will the doctrine of precedent apply?................................................................................17 Judicial Reasoning........................................................................................................................17 Which parts of the case are binding?...........................................................................................18 Ration Decidendi – complications................................................................................................18 Ratio Decidendi.............................................................................................................................18 Obiter Dicta...................................................................................................................................18 Elements of a case note.................................................................................................................19

Weeks 1 to 3 – Introduction to Law What is Law? Sources of Australian Law

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Law is a system of rules that must be complied with by citizens o Have to be obeyed by society no matter status Australia is a common law country; law comes from 3 main sources: o Law made by parliament (legislation) o Law made by executive government (delegated/subordinate legislation) o Law made by judges (common law/case law) Other sources include o Custom/lore o International and comparative law Legislation

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Legislation is made by parliament o Includes legislation made by both commonwealth and state parliaments Similar terms o Acts of Parliament o Statues o Enactments or enacted law A more flexible method of law making than common/case law (judge made law) In most cases, Parliament is free to introduce new statutes as it wishes Parliament can update legislation as required by amending it o Need a new act or amending act to update an existing act Parliament can decide when a new act will commence o Stipulate a commencement date, or that will commence ‘on a date to be proclaimed' o Gives opportunity for citizens to adjust to the new laws before being penalised for breaking them (e.g. distance from a cyclist laws) Navigating Legislation o Need to be able to recognise  Table of contents  Long title  Short title  Chapters, parts, divisions, sections  Citation section  Commencement section (if any)  Endnotes (shows history of an act by showing how and when it has been amended Passage of Legislation through Queensland Parliament

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Presentation of legislation, explanatory speech and first reading 1. Starts out as a bill and the minister responsible presents a speech on what the bill is supposed to do and why it is needed 2. Used to be read by the Clark but is now tabled (put on table) and can be viewed by members of Parliament - Clerk just reads out the short title Committee Consideration Committee Report Second Reading Consideration in detail 1. A clause will go on to be a section 2. Amendments made Third Reading 1. Clark reads short title and Parliament will divide Royal Assent 1. The Governor on Behalf of the Queen does the Royal Assent 2. Bill the becomes an Act

Passage of Legislation through Commonwealth Parliament 

The process is similar to that described for Queensland o Each piece of proposed legislation - each ‘bill’ - must be passed by both houses before it becomes ‘law' o Most bills can be introduced in either the Senate or the House of Reps Delegated/Subordinate Legislation

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Delegated or subordinate legislation is a ‘lower level’ of legislation - but we must comply with it Delegated o Parliament vis an Act ‘delegates’ law-making function to executive government o Parliament can delegate its law-making powers to another body such as an executive government to make laws - because they don’t want to deal with it o Typically deals with the nitty gritty, definitions and penalty o E.g. Nature conservation act - penalises endangering vulnerable species but what the species (definition) are in another legislation it delegated because the government has a specific department for nature who can deal with it Subordinate o The legislation is ’subordinate’ to the Act with authorises its making o Disability Discrimination Act - complied educational facilities to comply with disabilities (e.g. more time on exams) trouble was that the act that authorised the creation fit not describe the adjustments so people said that the standards are beyond power and are not int he scope of the parent act and therefore not enforceable Local laws are delegated/subordinate laws which only have a local effect Common Law - Week 4 tutorial

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Different meanings in different contexts o The law ‘common’ to the whole realm o The law of England and other ‘common law countries o The law developed by the old common law courts o The law administered by ordinary courts  As opposed to law administered by special courts or tribunals o Judge made law built up on a case-by-case adjudication of disputes Common law refers to the law made by courts Similar terms: o Case law o Judge made law o Judgments (NO ‘E) What is a ‘case’?

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The individual matter in dispute before the court, its facts and parties and the decision made by the court is known as a ‘case’ Facts? o What happened to give rise to the dispute before the court Parties? o People/institutions/businesses involved in the dispute o Plaintiff/applicant, complainant v defendant o Appellant v respondent o If criminal, the crown is the appellant The decision/judgement delivered at the conclusion of the court hearing o Decides the outcomes of the case o May provide a judicial statement on a legal rule that may become a ‘precedent’ for other cases that come before the legal system at a later time Doctrine of Precedent - Stare Decisis

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To principle fundamental to justice are said to be: o That like cases should be decide alike o That the courts should decide cases ‘according to the law' The common law courts have always observed a doctrine that ‘precedents’ should be followed

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Stare Decisis - stand by things decided A court is bound to follow the decision of the court’s superior to it in the same hierarchy The ratio decidendi of the case is the part that binds later courts Legislation and Common Law

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The general rule is that law made by parliament is supreme over judge-made law: ‘parliamentary sovereignty' o Parliament is free to pass laws that are inconsistent with existing common law principles o Judges have to accept that any law made by parliament is supreme over their judge made law o Judges can interpret the law how they want A court can override a law made by parliament if: o The procedures have not been complied with in enacting the law o The parliament does not have the power under the relevant constitution to make a law of that nature 'Custom' as a Source of Law

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‘Custom’ can be used in a number of senses... o The conventions of parliamentary practice in constitutional law; and o The customary commercial practices of business people.  These customs are not enforceable in a court of law but are sufficiently ingrained in practice that they are seldom ignored o customary indigenous law/lore Customary law/lore - a body of rules, norms and traditions which are accepted and enforced within a community Indigenous law was not sufficiently developed to be usefully recognised and enforced Indigenous law may be taken into account by the Australian legal system Indigenous law may still operate as a matter of fact Indigenous rules trumping Australian laws - Love v Commonwealth of Australia; Thomas v Commonwealth of Australia International/comparative law as a Source of Law

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Comparative law: Judges can sometimes take guidance from other jurisdictions/counties for decisions International Law: norms and rights, particularly as evidenced by international conventions and treaties (e.g. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) o Is the law that governs relations between countries or sovereign states, rather than between citizens of individual states o Absence of an enforcing body or sanctions for non-compliance  E.g. need the compliance of North Korean Government to prosecute and follow through with punishment for leader Reception of English Law

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As NSW was settled, the settlers bought with them all English law - common law and statue law - as was applicable to new colonies Key features: o Three branches: legislature, executive, judiciary o Responsible and representative government o The rule of law Bought the legal profession to Australia Values, traditions and xes associated with the English legal system Law was ‘received’ into Queensland in three waves: o English Law (legislation and case law relevant to the colony) was received into NSW (which then included QLD) on 26 January 1788 o The Australian Courts Act 1828 (Imp - Imperial) updated the received English law to 25 July 1828 o Queensland separated from NSW on 6 June 1859  By Order-in-Council, all laws of NSW continued to apply in QLD After reception of English Law

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Great Britain granted limited self-government to each colony

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First Supreme Court established in NSW in 1814; New South Wales Act 1823 (Imp) formalised the supreme courts of NSW and Van Diemen’s Land and created the first parliament Newly enacted British laws generally did not apply to colonies (only GB) Federation

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Federal system: A political system in which government power is shared between a central or federal government and regional government Inspired by USA Gained momentum in the 1880s First Governor-General: Lord Hopetoun Current Governor-General: David Hurley Head of State: The Queen De-Colonisation - The legislature

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Gradual acquisition of full legislative independence from Britain Statue of Westminster 1931 (Imp) o Australia could pass it owns Acts without English approval and England could no longer pass laws as its dominos unless Australia asks them too Statue of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 (Cth) o Backdated until outbreak of WWII 3 September 1939 o Does not apply to all states o Was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enabling the total legislative independence of the various self-governing Dominions of the British Empire. 1986 saw almost complete legislative independence At the request of all State Parliaments, Commonwealth and United Kingdom Parliaments passed near-identical versions of the Australia Act 1986. Section 3 allowed States to amend or repeal all English or Imperial laws There are still some Imperial laws on the Queensland statute books De-Colonisation - The courts

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Gradual abolition of judicial appeals to the Privy Council o Privy Council (Limitation of Appeals) Act 1968 (Cth)  Abolished appeals in all matters involving federal laws. o Privy Council (Appeals from the High Court) Act 1975 (Cth)  Limited appeals to PC from HCA to those matters which had been commenced in a court before 8 July 1975  Someone who had lost in a non-federal matter in a State Supreme Court now had a choice of two final appellate courts – PC or HCA o Australia Act 1986 (Cth) s 11  Abolished all appeals to the Privy Council from Australia, except where leave to appeal had already been granted. The Federal System

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Means two levels (Commonwealth/Federal and State) of: o Parliament o Executive government o Courts Regulated by the Commonwealth constitution Commonwealth Constitution

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The constitution is entrenched in legislation Carries out 5 main tasks: 1. Recognises the existence of the six Australian colonies as they were in 1900, and continues in force their constitutions and laws except as changed by the Commonwealth Constitution 2. Creates a new set of ‘Federal’ or ‘Commonwealth’ authorities of the central government and outlines their functions and powers. 3. Regulates the relations between Commonwealth authorities and those of the States.

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Establishes an Australian common market - by providing free trade between the States - and a common, external customs tariffs 5. Establishes limited ‘Bill of R...