VCE Humanities: Legal Studies (Elective)

“In a small way human creative hands imitate this profusion of God, going beyond the minimum requirements of getting the job done. Creative hands are not content to spread on the frosting; they must make a tasteful arrangement of swirls and colour. They don’t just apply a coat of varnish; they polish the surface until it glows like satin.  Creative hands do more than plant seeds; they place them in a tasteful and eye-pleasing garden arrangement.” LeRoy Koopman

OVERVIEW

If Christians are to be educated for service and witness in the world, some knowledge of the political and legal systems which seek to control our society is essential. This course introduces students to the Australian legal system with a view to encouraging interest and a sense of Christian responsibility in these fundamental structures of our community.

Legal Studies purposes to:

• Cultivate a reasoned and compassionate outlook on social and political behaviour based on Christian principles
• Encourage a responsibility to, and involvement in, political and social activity which effectively promotes Biblical values while respecting the rights, opinions and interpretations of others
• Show the difficulties involved in applying God’s absolute standards to a world corrupted by sin to recognise, as a consequence, that sometimes the choice is not between good and evil but a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils
• Promote an appreciation of the fact that there may be a number of alternative means, political legal and social, of achieving the implementation of Biblical principles

SUBJECT LENGTH

• Each Unit is 1 semester long

TOPICS INCLUDE

UNIT 1:  GUILT AND LIABILITY

• Legal Foundations
• The Presumption of Innocence
• Civil Liability

UNIT 2:  SANCTIONS, REMEDIES AND RIGHTS

• Sanctions
• Remedies
• Rights

PREREQUISITES

• No prerequisites

ASSESSMENT

UNITS 1 & 2

Coursework assessment tasks are selected from:

• Structured assignment
• Essay
• Mock court or role-play
• Folio and report
• Case study
• Test
• Report (written, visual, oral or multimedia)
• Examination

“The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” That is why it was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:6-7, 9