Hello everyone! Trials are just around the corner, and for Legal Studies, less than a week away! Scary! But fear not; with the right preparation, you will smash the exam and then do even better in your HSC exams.
65% of your mark in Legal comes from essays, and another 15 in extended response/short answer. This means you’ll have to write a lot; probably the equivalent of about 2500 words all up. But what the hell do you write about in the first place? Well, that is what these Legal Guides will be for, evidence for your essays! These guides explain
EVERY case, EVERY law, EVERY treaty, and EVERY argument that I took into the HSC exams. So, if you read and remember this, you’ll be armed with the stuff that got me a state rank. Sound good?
Note: The only thing I won’t include is media articles. You should source your own, more current articles. You are looking for articles which highlight legal issues you are discussing, link to things you are talking about, etc. Essentially, don’t just include anything, it should have relevance! Further, it should be as current as possible (I included articles from the news on the morning of my exam). I won't include statistics for the same reason. Both are easy to find and should be as current as possible. I’m going to structure these guides in a sort of strange way (and only Core content will be covered at the moment). I am going to do a separate guide for International Crime and Young Offenders, since they are stand alone issues, and an essay on them should be treated as such. However, an essay on anything else should integrate everything that you know, and so, I am integrating the guides. To save you from reading a 5000 word guide, I am splitting it in half. This one will focus on legislation you should know! And then we’ll do cases, with a section at the end on how to tie it all together.
As always, remember to register for an account and ask any questions you have below! It takes no time at all, and is an awesome chance to pick the brains of your peers. Let’s begin! Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)Obviously, this simply details the criminal actions which begin the process in the first place. Not much to delve into here, or at least so it would seem. However, this act also contains the
maximum penalties applicable for each offence. Some interesting arguments can ensue here. For one, this is vital in protecting civil liberties, by preventing arbitrary uses of power by a judge. It plays into the checks and balances approach of the Separation of Powers. However you can also argue that these maximum penalties limit the flexibility of sentencing, and stagnate the legal response to criminal actions. Since, of course, laws are slower to change than a judges mind, Some interesting stuff to discuss.
Crimes (Sentencing and Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW)This act governs the aggravating and mitigating factors which can be considered in sentencing, as well as other considerations. Essentially, it places some restrictions on judicial interpretation. This is one of the ones you should mention when discussing cases, not much you can say here that can’t be said better with case law.
Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW)This act governs the appellate jurisdiction of courts (ie-appeals). Thus, it is an absolutely essential inclusion to any discussion of an appeal case, or any discussion of the effectiveness of Australia’s courts. Essentially, having a process for appeals guarantees the serving of justice and limits the impact of legal errors. You can do any sort of evaluation here you like; perhaps even argue that the appeal process is too “allowing,” and thus restricts the efficiency of the judicial hierarchy. Lots of ways to bend it, but it’s hard to argue that appeals are anything but a good thing for all concerned (except administrative burdens and the like).
Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW)Known more colloquially as LEPRA, this is the big one. Every right contained by police is in here. You should analyse this in terms of your argument. For one, the powers allow law enforcement to protect community interests and safety, by monitoring and preventing certain criminal actions. However, these additional powers come at the expense of civil liberties and individual freedoms. There is lots of potential for in depth argument here, based on specific cases and (particularly) media articles. One thing you should definitely mention is that LEPRA is continually being expanded to include new, even more intrusive powers. A big example is an expanded use of covert searches after the
Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Amendment (Search Powers) Act 2009 (NSW) .
There have been several instances of the NSW Law Reform Commission condemning the actions of police, notably in regard to the excessive use of arrests. Inquiries by the NSW LRC have found that arrests are NOT used as a last resort (how they are supposed to be used) in most circumstances. This is a nice little piece of an argument for almost any topic.
Bail Act 2013 (NSW)What you should know is that this act was originally brought into force in 1978. It was amended so many times, they re wrote the bloody thing. This shows that bail is a continuing area of criminal law reform. Again, the key issue here is a balance between individual rights and community/victim safety. Of course, the innocent before proven guilty presumption is a human right, but remand ignores this. Yet, it is for community safety. There are MANY instances of an offence being committed on bail, so often that I’m not even going to include my example in the list below; google “Bail,” and take your pick. It is a continuing issue, so get a contemporary example.
The NSW Law Reform Commission submitted a report in 2012, prior to the new act taking effect, which suggested that bail should be a rebuttable presumption in all circumstances. That is, presumption against bail shouldn’t exist. It was ignored, but a good thing to mention.
Victims Rights Act 1996 (NSW)The Victims Rights Act is a super important inclusion for any “balancing rights” question. Summarised, it introduced
Victim Impact Statements , a way for victims to play a role in the sentencing process. This is especially important for sensitive areas such as Domestic Violence. Use this law as evidence for effectively guaranteeing the victims rights, or criticise it for not doing enough.
EG- A nice argument I made once was that the legal system seems to invest so much time in protecting victims, it has forgotten to stop the criminals in the first place, sighting the ineffectiveness of bail laws and police powers which, if they worked, would prevent the need for the Victims Rights Act in the first place. Complex arguments like this, argued well and supported properly, score big points.
Jury Act 1977 (NSW)Handles juries. This one of those ones just to mention while making an argument. You can argue that juries are an essential way of integrating community interests in the judicial process. Or, you can argue that they are inefficient and more prone to legal error and corruption. Take your pick, although the
Jury Amendment (Verdicts) Act 2006 (NSW) did a lot to solve those aforementioned issues.
TreatiesThough not as important in a Crime essay, dropping one or two international treaties is a nice piece of insurance. It is easy in a balancing rights question, I mean, where do the rights come from? The easiest to mention is the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , which protects civilians from arbitrary uses of power by the government. Things like arrest without cause, suppressing political discussion, etc, all big no nos. It can tie nicely into something like bail:
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2012, almost 25% of Australian prisoners were not convicted, held in custodial remand. This figure is clear evidence of Australia’s failure to meet international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which ensures freedom from arbitrary arrest to all individuals. Bam. Awesome, well considered point. And a nice statistic for you as well. Speaking of which, to close, a word on…
StatisticsLet’s get something straight; BOSTES knows you aren’t the Bureau of Statistics. They don’t expect you to know the prosecution rate for murder, the number of individuals released on bail last year, etc. Nor do you need statistics to get a Band 6 in Legal. It’s all about building your argument, however you choose, and statistics are a neat little way to convince the marker you are legit. They are easy to find too. I didn’t have that statistic above, I just googled “Bail vs Remand Statistics.”
Including a statistic lets you bring in some knowledge, and tie in a Legal Response along the way (either ABS, or whatever other Legal Body is responsible for the statistic). The week before my exam, I just made half a page of about 7-8 statistics to try and remember, that would back up what I wanted to say. That way they are current, personalised, and fresh in the mind. Also notice, you don’t have to remember the exact number. “Almost a quarter,” “over half,” “close to zero,”… It all works well.
Oh, and as for the “making up statistics” frame of mind? BOSTES markers will not sit there and fact check you. They don’t have time. That being said, it is Legal teachers who will have, probably, a much better knowledge of the Legal System than you. Chances are, they’ll spot it if you put in a whole bunch of made up stuff.
So, these are all the laws you will need for the Crime essay in your exams, and hopefully by reading about them, you’ve got some nifty ideas for where you can take your arguments too. The way to prepare? Write these laws down in a list with your cases, treaties, law reform reports, stats, anything else you need to remember. And just study that first; make sure you remember everything. Then, start looking at questions, scribbling at arguments, and see what you can use from the massive bank of stuff you’ve accumulated. That’s the hardest bit, choosing what evidence is the best. But really, come up with a well thought out argument and link it to evidence which is even somewhat relevant, and you are already on a really good track.
So, that’s it! Stay tuned for the next half of the guide, coming very soon, which will have a whole bunch of super relevant cases, and let me know if there is interest for a last minute essay guide. Just register for an account and let me know. Otherwise, good luck for Trials, on Wednesday, and the rest! Happy study! 
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