VCE Legal Studies Question Thread

[Ameliajanem]

Does anyone know how to tackle this question.

Question 13 (10 marks)
Discuss the ability of parliament to change the law. In your answer, provide one recent example of an individual or group in uencing legislative change.

So basically you are looking for what ability parliament has to change the law, and what limitations are placed on it. A good way to structure it is to provide a way parliament can make law, and a corresponding limitation. So for example, parliament is the supreme law making body, and can make law at any time it is sitting about any issue it wishes. However, parliament is not always sitting. Parliament can also make law that is representative of the people, as it is elected by the people. (You can bring in an example here of how individuals and groups have influenced change in the law - so for example, I used the petition tabled in 2016 by the Greens which called for a ban on plastic bags, implemented in 2017). However, it may also be reluctant to make law in controversial issues due to fear of voter backlash.

And so on and so forth with various abilities and limitations. That's how I tackled it anyway.

[kupus]

HEY GUYS super late question but..... If there was a question asking about how you can change the meaning of the constitution are you restricted to High Court interpretations? Or can you also refer to a referendum and referral of powers?

[Glasses]

HEY GUYS super late question but..... If there was a question asking about how you can change the meaning of the constitution are you restricted to High Court interpretations? Or can you also refer to a referendum and referral of powers?

Hi there,

Good question!
I'd say that, since changing the wording of the Constitution via referendum and the referral of powers still technically change the meaning of the Constitution, you aren't restricted to talking purely about High Court interpretations. However, since High Court interpretations are the main way in which the meaning of the Constitution is changed/determined (without changing the wording of the Constitution), I would probably try and make it the focus of my answer.

(There is also a fair bit of ambiguity regarding the referral of powers, so whether it actually changes the meaning of the Constitution is possibly debatable).

Best of luck!

[TheBamboozler]

Hello, I'm having trouble differentiating between the principles of justice, specifically fairness and equality. I can't seem to get the right words to describe what makes them different.

[Glasses]

Hello, I'm having trouble differentiating between the principles of justice, specifically fairness and equality. I can't seem to get the right words to describe what makes them different.

Hi there! Welcome to ATAR Notes
Basically, 'fairness' focuses on legal processes, systems and institutions being fair and unbiased, and all parties receiving an impartial and unbiased hearing. Whilst 'equality' focuses more so on all people being treated equally before the law, regardless of factors such as age, race or gender; and on people having an equal opportunity to present their cases.

Hope that helps!

[TheBamboozler]

Hi there! Welcome to ATAR Notes
Basically, 'fairness' focuses on legal processes, systems and institutions being fair and unbiased, and all parties receiving an impartial and unbiased hearing. Whilst 'equality' focuses more so on all people being treated equally before the law, regardless of factors such as age, race or gender; and on people having an equal opportunity to present their cases.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the help! I hope that I can remember to make use of this website as a resource.

[Glasses]

Thanks for the help! I hope that I can remember to make use of this website as a resource.

I honestly could not recommend that you use ATAR Notes enough!! There are heaps of extremely kind and intelligent people on ATAR Notes who are more than happy to give you a hand. I used ATAR Notes throughout all of my VCE and found it to be extremely helpful!

[zuleika]

How would you answer this question: 'Provide five tips on how to achieve the best possible outcome from a criminal proceeding (in regards to the accused). I think it is supposed to relate back to the principles of justice.

[MissSmiley]

How would you answer this question: 'Provide five tips on how to achieve the best possible outcome from a criminal proceeding (in regards to the accused). I think it is supposed to relate back to the principles of justice.

Is this straight out, copy-pasted from your source? If it is, then this part: "(in regards to the accused)" is really confusing for me! Sorry if it's actually simple and then I'm confused, but I interpret this as 2 different things:
1. Are we giving tips for the defendant in order to help them get their desired sentence?
2. Are we giving tips to the magistrate/ judge so that they can sanction a just punishment?

So if we're giving tips to the accused, I'd say:
- Ask the prosecution for a hand-up brief during the committal hearing, so that the offender knows what charges that the prosecution is accusing them of. Asking for a hand-up brief will mean that they can try and defend some of the charges and their lawyer can negotiate with the prosecution, in the hope that they can receive a less severe sentence
- Don't try to do your own research. The court system has its own complex language, and unless you are well-versed in it, you may actually do more harm than good by trying to tackle your own research. Let your lawyer research the case.
- Don't compare your case with other, similar cases. Each case is entirely unique, and one case generally has nothing to do with another case, no matter how similar they initially may seem
- Tell your lawyer what you would like to see him or her doing regarding your case, and share any ideas you might have. Sometimes clients have ideas that lawyers might not think of because the client is so close to the circumstances that led to the charges. A collaborative experience with your lawyer will serve the offender best.

Hope this gives some direction to the question, but more than happy to be rectified by people

[meganrobyn]

Is this straight out, copy-pasted from your source? If it is, then this part: "(in regards to the accused)" is really confusing for me! Sorry if it's actually simple and then I'm confused, but I interpret this as 2 different things:
1. Are we giving tips for the defendant in order to help them get their desired sentence?
2. Are we giving tips to the magistrate/ judge so that they can sanction a just punishment?

I think it's just asking for advice for the accused on how to run their case. Keep in mind that the question is really only there to get out of you what you've learned from the course - it's not asking for actual advice you might give someone. So, just go through the Study Design and link each dot-point bit of content to something the accused should know or keep in mind (if that dot-point is relevant; most in U3 AOS1 will be). The point is to show you learnt AOS1, and to link that learning basically back to an accused person.

[zuleika]

Is this straight out, copy-pasted from your source? If it is, then this part: "(in regards to the accused)" is really confusing for me! Sorry if it's actually simple and then I'm confused, but I interpret this as 2 different things:
1. Are we giving tips for the defendant in order to help them get their desired sentence?
2. Are we giving tips to the magistrate/ judge so that they can sanction a just punishment?

So if we're giving tips to the accused, I'd say:
- Ask the prosecution for a hand-up brief during the committal hearing, so that the offender knows what charges that the prosecution is accusing them of. Asking for a hand-up brief will mean that they can try and defend some of the charges and their lawyer can negotiate with the prosecution, in the hope that they can receive a less severe sentence
- Don't try to do your own research. The court system has its own complex language, and unless you are well-versed in it, you may actually do more harm than good by trying to tackle your own research. Let your lawyer research the case.
- Don't compare your case with other, similar cases. Each case is entirely unique, and one case generally has nothing to do with another case, no matter how similar they initially may seem
- Tell your lawyer what you would like to see him or her doing regarding your case, and share any ideas you might have. Sometimes clients have ideas that lawyers might not think of because the client is so close to the circumstances that led to the charges. A collaborative experience with your lawyer will serve the offender best.

Hope this gives some direction to the question, but more than happy to be rectified by people

Thank you! I think I can make use of your tips even though I am even a little confused about the question. I didn't copy-past the Q, I was trying to give context so I added the 'in regards to the accused' part. It's from the VCE legal studies website. It's a broshure for the accused - http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/adviceforteachers/legalstudies/unit3-areastudy1.aspx . It's at the bottom of the page. Everything in the broshure is meant to relate to the Principles of Justice and the key concepts in the Victoria Criminal Justice System (so basically the first two dot poitns in the U3 AOS1 SD).

[MissSmiley]

Thank you! I think I can make use of your tips even though I am even a little confused about the question. I didn't copy-past the Q, I was trying to give context so I added the 'in regards to the accused' part. It's from the VCE legal studies website. It's a broshure for the accused - http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/adviceforteachers/legalstudies/unit3-areastudy1.aspx . It's at the bottom of the page. Everything in the broshure is meant to relate to the Principles of Justice and the key concepts in the Victoria Criminal Justice System (so basically the first two dot poitns in the U3 AOS1 SD).

Yeah, all right!
Thanks for reminding me of this link!! 

[zuleika]

I think it's just asking for advice for the accused on how to run their case. Keep in mind that the question is really only there to get out of you what you've learned from the course - it's not asking for actual advice you might give someone. So, just go through the Study Design and link each dot-point bit of content to something the accused should know or keep in mind (if that dot-point is relevant; most in U3 AOS1 will be). The point is to show you learnt AOS1, and to link that learning basically back to an accused person.

Thank you so much! That makes so much more sense now.

[annabeljoesp]

Just a homework question really could use some help!!

1. Is the same sex marriage law enforceable in Australia
2. Is the same sex marriage law stable

[Glasses]

Just a homework question really could use some help!!

1. Is the same sex marriage law enforceable in Australia
2. Is the same sex marriage law stable

Hey there!

Just to clarify, are those questions for VCE Legal Studies?
And to answer your questions:
1) Yes, same-sex marriage is now legal in Australia; i.e. marriage in Australia is legally defined as 'the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.' From this definition, you can see that it does not matter whether the two people are of the same, or opposite sex.
2) I would argue that the same-sex marriage law is very stable. I say this because the postal survey showed that the majority of voters support same sex marriage; and since the job of Parliament is to represent the views of the people, it would be illogical for Parliament to overturn a law which is supported by the majority of Australians. Additionally, even if there is a change of government at the next election, the opposition support same sex marriage, and therefore would almost certainly not overturn the law.