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March 29, 2024, 01:40:05 am

Author Topic: HSC Legal Studies Question Thread  (Read 568033 times)  Share 

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jamonwindeyer

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #60 on: May 15, 2016, 11:26:53 pm »
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hello :D
I was wondering if could have some help in how to approach an essay that requires
'Assessing the effectiveness of common law and the similarities and differences between statute and common law'
In particular I have trouble in writing the thesis of the essay in the introduction

What I currently have ...  :'(
'Common law is defined as law that has been developed on the basis of preceding ruling by judges. Statutory laws are written laws passed by legislature and government of a country and those which have been accepted by the society. These similarities and differences between statue and common law reflect the evident effectiveness of common law.'

I was also wondering what kind of strong evidence would be good to incorporate into the essay to support my assessment of the effectiveness of common law. I'm overall quite confused on how to structure this essay that requires assessing the effectiveness of common law and how statue and common law is different yet similar :/

Thank you in advance :D

Hey there!!  ;D that's a strange essay question, never seen anything quite like it before! Kind of cool though, lots to discuss!

Basically, I would be approaching a Thesis to this question very similarly to what you have already got written. Looking at how a comparison of statute and common law reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each. Your Thesis is essentially your judgement, your evaluation. Is common law better (this sounds like where you are at now)? Is statute law better? Are they better in certain scenarios? Make your judgement and this will form the backbone of your Thesis, expressed in a nice formal argument.

Your Thesis formulated, think of three areas of the law that will allow you to compare common law to statute law. Ultimately, this will mean comparing the effectiveness of legislation and statutes, versus the court system, in specific situations. You could address the notion of manslaughter versus murder, an area of law dominated by precedent. Juvenile crime would be an interesting area to discuss as well. Look over news headlines for articles on recent court cases that have caused a political stir. Take your pick of three areas that you want to discuss, and these could form your paragraphs!

Essentially, each paragraph would be discussing the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of statute law and common law in each area, thus re-enforcing your Thesis (whatever it happened to be). Be careful that it matches, don't have a Thesis saying statute law is effective, then spend the whole essay trashing it  ;)

I think you are definitely on the right track. The trick here will be to show how common law and statute law are different, by comparing their effectiveness in various legal situations/areas. At least, that's how I'd approach it  ;D I hope this helps to get you started!!  ;D


itswags98

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #61 on: June 15, 2016, 07:10:46 pm »
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hiya!!!

Hopefully this is fine in this thread...  ;D
I've recently received an assignment and would prefer some help going about it. It consists of 2 small answers and one long response. I was wondering how to best go about the structure for each question and some extensive family law cases to base my responses on. The three questions are:
1) Outline the role of the Family Court in Australia's legal system
2) Identify and Describe ONE case that has been heard in the Family Court of Australia
3) Evaluate the effectiveness of the Family Court of Australia in achieving justice for family members. Make reference to case selected in question 2 and other family law issues.

The total amount of words is meant to be 2000. I was thinking personally 1(300), 2(500) and 3(1200) or is that over doing it?
Thank you!
« Last Edit: June 15, 2016, 07:12:36 pm by itswags98 »
Goal of 85 ATAR. Lets do eht

feeah

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #62 on: June 15, 2016, 07:42:21 pm »
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Hi guys! I'm a year 11 student doing LS, and my results from my half yearly haven't been as good as I'd hoped. My question is: how much time do you think I should invest into studying every day or week, and what do you think is the most effective way of studying? Also, this question isn't aimed specifically towards LS, but I'm really struggling with motivating myself- do you have any advice? Thank you!!

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #63 on: June 15, 2016, 11:55:48 pm »
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Hi guys! I'm a year 11 student doing LS, and my results from my half yearly haven't been as good as I'd hoped. My question is: how much time do you think I should invest into studying every day or week, and what do you think is the most effective way of studying? Also, this question isn't aimed specifically towards LS, but I'm really struggling with motivating myself- do you have any advice? Thank you!!

Hey feeah! Welcome to the forums!  ;D

First of all, don't stress about results in Year 11! Seriously, all the marks get wiped at the end of the year (well, Term 4) anyway! Year 11 is about developing good habits and settling into a good routine, it's a practice run, so it is great that you are using the result as a chance to improve your study skills! But don't let it worry you  ;D

In terms of study, that's a difficult question to answer. Everyone needs something a little bit different. The key is consistency, try to study for Legal every week, don't just leave it by the wayside when it gets busy. Always do something! In the HSC I aimed for about 1 hour at home for every hour in the classroom, so that might be a good guide for you if you want to really push. But again, it is only Year 11, so you can relax a bit. Set yourself a reasonable goal of a couple of hours a week on Legal Studies and see how it goes!!

I've just written an article on How To Study for Legal Studies, although it is aimed at HSC students, it will absolutely be useful for you too!

For motivation, everyone is different, but let's think about this. Why are you doing Year 11 and 12 instead of dropping out and getting a job? Dream degree? Dream ATAR? Try to keep remembering WHY you are doing what you are doing. Take the recent half yearlies; if you aren't happy with the results, say to yourself when it gets tough: "I never want to be unhappy about my results like that again."

Getting motivated is all about justifying your actions  ;D

Settling into a routine will help with making sure you get work done when you want to get it done. We'll be writing an article about timetabling your study in the next week or two, so I'll link it here when it's done!  ;D

I hope this helps  :)


jamonwindeyer

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #64 on: June 15, 2016, 11:57:38 pm »
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hiya!!!

Hopefully this is fine in this thread...  ;D
I've recently received an assignment and would prefer some help going about it. It consists of 2 small answers and one long response. I was wondering how to best go about the structure for each question and some extensive family law cases to base my responses on. The three questions are:
1) Outline the role of the Family Court in Australia's legal system
2) Identify and Describe ONE case that has been heard in the Family Court of Australia
3) Evaluate the effectiveness of the Family Court of Australia in achieving justice for family members. Make reference to case selected in question 2 and other family law issues.

The total amount of words is meant to be 2000. I was thinking personally 1(300), 2(500) and 3(1200) or is that over doing it?
Thank you!

Hey itswags! It certainly is, I'll make sure I lend you a hand tomorrow! I have an exam in the morning and so I should probably get off the site and get some sleep  :o just wanted to make sure you know I didn't ignore you in favour of the person below you; but if I gave you advice on this now I'd probably sound like a babbling tired zombie  ;)

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #65 on: June 16, 2016, 08:10:05 pm »
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hiya!!!

Hopefully this is fine in this thread...  ;D
I've recently received an assignment and would prefer some help going about it. It consists of 2 small answers and one long response. I was wondering how to best go about the structure for each question and some extensive family law cases to base my responses on. The three questions are:
1) Outline the role of the Family Court in Australia's legal system
2) Identify and Describe ONE case that has been heard in the Family Court of Australia
3) Evaluate the effectiveness of the Family Court of Australia in achieving justice for family members. Make reference to case selected in question 2 and other family law issues.

The total amount of words is meant to be 2000. I was thinking personally 1(300), 2(500) and 3(1200) or is that over doing it?
Thank you!

Hey again!! Okay, so, let me give you a bit of advice for every bit:

This is an outline question, so 300 might even be too much!! Basically, you'll want to cover (briefly) all of the functions that the Family Court plays in Australia, including its capabilities and examples of it exercising its capabilities. Key here is to never go into too much detail for this low level question, this acts as a summary paragraph.

The second part is your chance to find a case and examine it in depth. Describe the circumstances, the judgement, the rationale behind the judgement, and the laws/legal principles that have been applied.

The third bit is where you get the chance to flex your academic muscle. You need to structure an essay response that, as the main purpose, judges how effective the Family court is in responding to different Family law issues. You may wish to structure the response around 3 of these issues of your choice (EG - Property disputes, domestic violence, care and protection of children, surrogacy, etc). One paragraph for each, each evaluating effectiveness, with a nice intro and conclusion  ;D

In terms of cases, I can't recommend too many Family Court cases off the top of my head, to be honest it was an area lacking for me as a Legal Studies students. B and J (1996) is one I could recommend concerning surrogacy, though it might not have enough meat to it. Re Mark (2003) is one to do with same sex marriage.

I'd recommend skulking around the FLC AUSTLII Database for some ideas, there is so much available there, definitely great for detail on cases mentioned in your textbook  ;D

I hope this helps as a start!  ;D

shazzzzzz

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #66 on: June 18, 2016, 03:47:45 pm »
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In my last Legal Studies exam I didn't do the best that I could have (this is a very big understatement, I did not do well) and so whenever I think of Legal Studies I feel a bit traumatized (?), for lack of a better word.
Previously I did pretty well but right now whenever I think of my upcoming LS Trial I just feel like the same thing is gonna happen again and I'm not sure how to avoid it (my trial is coming up in a weeks time) so does anyone have some advice that could help me move on?

abradley

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #67 on: June 20, 2016, 03:28:37 pm »
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Just a quick question- What area of the syllabus do you think this year's family law questions will be on? I understand it is impossible to predict the essay question however your thoughts on possible questions would be appreciated! ;)

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #68 on: June 20, 2016, 04:06:13 pm »
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In my last Legal Studies exam I didn't do the best that I could have (this is a very big understatement, I did not do well) and so whenever I think of Legal Studies I feel a bit traumatized (?), for lack of a better word.
Previously I did pretty well but right now whenever I think of my upcoming LS Trial I just feel like the same thing is gonna happen again and I'm not sure how to avoid it (my trial is coming up in a weeks time) so does anyone have some advice that could help me move on?

Hey shazz! Sorry for the late reply first of all  ;D

I liken your situation to my MX1 Half Yearly. Essentially, did nowhere near as well as I wanted, came second last in my cohort, I was absolutely guttered. For a little bit I thought I'd screwed the subject completely, lost a Band 6, etc etc.

What I realised though, from that experience, is that holy crap: I never wanted to feel like that after an exam ever again. So I worked harder, and I ended up coming first in my cohort and getting a 48 in the subject.

In short, the first thing for you to realise is that it's no big deal that you didn't do too well. In the long run, that doesn't matter. One bad mark doesn't wreck anything.

Secondly, you need to decide for yourself the sort of person you want to be in this situation. Don't let yourself be the person that lets one setback get them down. Use your prior experience to say, "Hey, you know what, not happening again." Be motivated by your setbacks, kind of like doing a double session at the gym the day after a massive gorge on KFC  ;)

For your upcoming Trial, go back to that half yearly and ask yourself some tough questions. Where did I lose marks? Why? Do I need to work on my essay writing, do I need to focus on avoiding mistakes in Multiple Choice? Figure out exactly what happened, and work on those areas specifically (remember we have free essay marking if you need a hand)!

The key to success (or one of them) in the HSC is perseverance and learning from your mistakes. No-one gets a Band 6 level mark in every exam. The Band 6 students though, they learn from their mistakes. And that is what you need to do.

I realise parts of this sounded like a cheesy movie, but it is all true. Be honest with yourself about where your weaknesses lie, and work on fixing them. Just because you weren't happy ones, doesn't mean you won't be happy with Legal again. On the contrary, it should be every reason to work even harder to achieve the next time  ;D

Good luck for your Trial! I am sure you will absolutely smash it Shaz  ;D

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #69 on: June 20, 2016, 04:18:32 pm »
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Just a quick question- What area of the syllabus do you think this year's family law questions will be on? I understand it is impossible to predict the essay question however your thoughts on possible questions would be appreciated! ;)

Hey there! Oh, you can totally make a few educated guesses, I correctly predicted the 2015 HSC Crime Question, so let's see what we can do here!  ;D

Now examining potential trial questions is tricky because the past papers are a little difficult to find, but the HSC papers are readily available. The best thing to do is to look broadly at the topics covered in the last 3 or 4 papers:

2015: Alternative Family Relationships, Domestic Violence
2014: Same Sex Relationships, Issues Affecting Family Members
2013: Contemporary Issues Concerning Family Members, Conflict in Family Relationships
2012: Courts (Justice for Family Members), Surrogacy/Birth Technologies

A pretty generic pattern is that there is usually one question more specific than the other. The last two years exemplify that. Another fairly safe assumption is that they won't repeat last years question (duh), so don't expect anything on domestic violence.

From there, look at the syllabus and determine any areas that haven't been hit yet. For me, I look at this and I'm missing:
- Care and Protection of Children
- Changing Nature of Parental Responsibility
- Legal Consequences of Separation

Each of these were hit with broader questions in the last 4 years, but not specifically. So, they might be some options. Though, I definitely wouldn't rule out Same Sex relationships either, given how topical that is at the moment.

Of course, there is always the potential for a curveball, a change in style etc., but this might give you an idea of some things to make sure you have checked off of your study list!  ;D

Don't rely on predicting questions. You should, of course, be ready for anything!! However, it is definitely beneficial to have some rough expectations of what will/won't be asked. Don't use it as an excuse NOT to study something, use it as a cue to STUDY something a little bit more. You must be prepared to write about anything!  ;D

shazzzzzz

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #70 on: June 23, 2016, 10:28:14 am »
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Thank you so much for the reply!!!  ;D ;D
I really appreciate the advice, I can't emphasis it enough, I definitely feel a lot better now! THANK YOU!!

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #71 on: June 23, 2016, 10:40:26 am »
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Thank you so much for the reply!!!  ;D ;D
I really appreciate the advice, I can't emphasis it enough, I definitely feel a lot better now! THANK YOU!!

Awesome, I am very glad!!  ;D  you are most welcome  :D

aoife98

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #72 on: June 25, 2016, 01:08:46 pm »
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How do you structure a world order essay? There's so many aspects and issues to deal with, I don't know where to start

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #73 on: June 25, 2016, 01:47:31 pm »
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How do you structure a world order essay? There's so many aspects and issues to deal with, I don't know where to start

Hey aoife! There are multiple ways, but the one that I normally go for is putting one paragraph per response. Something like:

  • United Nations Security Council
  • United Nations General Assembly
  • Bilateral Treaties/Cooperation
  • ICJ
  • IGO's

And obviously you just pull the ones you need. The other thing you can do is take several world order issues and examine them each in a paragraph. For me in 2014, this was usually North Korea, Ukrainian Border Disputes, and a third that suited the question (these are the two I knew well). Each paragraph takes one contemporary situation and examines how effectively it has been/is being managed. I was less a fan of this structure, but it might work for you!!  ;D

So that is two ideas (and obviously you create an introduction and conclusion to match), but there are many other ways, don't feel like these are the only two  ;D

Tianna Jones

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #74 on: June 25, 2016, 04:57:48 pm »
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Hi Elyse,
I was just wondering if you had any advice on helping me catch up on a lot of missed work. I have been off school for nearly a term and have obviously been bombarded with work upon my return- especially in legal studies. Any tips on ways to zero in on the most crucial points would be great :)
Thanks, Tianna