Legal Studies
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. Units 3 & 4 must be completed together in a calendar year for a study score to be generated.
TOPICS INCLUDE
UNIT 1: GUILT AND LIABILITY
- Legal Foundations
- The Presumption of Innocence
- Civil Liability
UNIT 2: SANCTIONS, REMEDIES AND RIGHTS
- Sanctions
- Remedies
- Rights
UNIT 3: RIGHTS AND JUSTICE
- The Victorian Criminal Justice System
- The Victorian Civil Justice System
UNIT 4: THE PEOPLE AND THE LAW
- The People and the Australian Constitution
- The People, the Parliament and the Courts
PREREQUISITES
- There are 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
Units 3&4
- School Assessed Coursework Unit 3 (25%)
- School Assessed Coursework Unit 4 (25%)
- External Examination (2 hours) (50%)