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Author Topic: HSC Legal Studies Question Thread  (Read 568095 times)  Share 

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rodero

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #615 on: February 21, 2017, 10:30:21 pm »
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I was going over the themes and challenges and where we see this in the syllabus, as stated in the ATARNotes powerpoint. Could I please get some clarification as to how investigation and DPP fit into the t/c of discretion. Also, can I have a further explanation about the t/c of the law reflecting ethical and moral standards.
Thank you  :)
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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #616 on: February 21, 2017, 11:03:02 pm »
+1
I was going over the themes and challenges and where we see this in the syllabus, as stated in the ATARNotes powerpoint. Could I please get some clarification as to how investigation and DPP fit into the t/c of discretion. Also, can I have a further explanation about the t/c of the law reflecting ethical and moral standards.
Thank you  :)

Hey Rodero! So, the DPP makes decisions about which charges to bring forward, thus exercising discretion. I'll give you a hypothetical situation. If a person has committed a homicide, they may be put up for murder charges. If it is likely (based on super early understanding of the case from initial investigation and arrest), that the offender will plead guilty for manslaughter (in charge negotiation), then it might also be worth charging with interference with a corpse (relating to the crime) if it means that a person will be more appropriately punished for the nature of their crime. But, if it is certain a person will be taking a guilty plea to murder, they will likely receive la life sentence and the extra 18 months jail for interference with a corpse just wouldn't be worth the time of the court (as a resource of society). So, that's an extensive version of the DPP's discretion. Basically, they put forward the charge they think is most appropriate. Also, charge negotation involves discretion.

In investigation, detectives use discretion when contacting potential witnesses, suspects, etc. In order to gain the most from an investigation, a detective needs to be more careful than to just go up to every possible person in the suburb and ask what they know about a crime. Judicious selection of questions, timing, and tools in investigation are important. Particularly when applying for warrants. Is it worth applying for a warrant to search a house? Who will this impact? Is it likely to be fruitful?

You can read more on themes and challenges here!

Hopefully this gives you a hand :)
« Last Edit: February 21, 2017, 11:04:44 pm by elysepopplewell »
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rodero

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #617 on: February 22, 2017, 04:22:07 pm »
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Hey Rodero! So, the DPP makes decisions about which charges to bring forward, thus exercising discretion. I'll give you a hypothetical situation. If a person has committed a homicide, they may be put up for murder charges. If it is likely (based on super early understanding of the case from initial investigation and arrest), that the offender will plead guilty for manslaughter (in charge negotiation), then it might also be worth charging with interference with a corpse (relating to the crime) if it means that a person will be more appropriately punished for the nature of their crime. But, if it is certain a person will be taking a guilty plea to murder, they will likely receive la life sentence and the extra 18 months jail for interference with a corpse just wouldn't be worth the time of the court (as a resource of society). So, that's an extensive version of the DPP's discretion. Basically, they put forward the charge they think is most appropriate. Also, charge negotation involves discretion.

In investigation, detectives use discretion when contacting potential witnesses, suspects, etc. In order to gain the most from an investigation, a detective needs to be more careful than to just go up to every possible person in the suburb and ask what they know about a crime. Judicious selection of questions, timing, and tools in investigation are important. Particularly when applying for warrants. Is it worth applying for a warrant to search a house? Who will this impact? Is it likely to be fruitful?

You can read more on themes and challenges here!

Hopefully this gives you a hand :)

Thank you elyse! This definitely cleared it up!

EDIT: I'm really sorry but I have a few more questions!
1. How do I properly cite these cases? Farah Jamah 2008, Thomas Kelly Taser Incident, Cory Barker's arrest.
2. What are your thoughts on the Evidence Amendment (Evidence of Silence) Act 2013? Section 89A states that in an indictable offence, an "unfavourable inference may be drawn simply as a result of not mentioning a fact at the time of police questioning that is later relied on at trial." Do we still have a complete right so silence?
« Last Edit: February 22, 2017, 05:04:20 pm by rodero »
HSC 2017:
English (Advanced): 91    Legal Studies: 92    Modern History: 91    Studies of Religion 2: 90    Business Studies: 92

ATAR: 96.75

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sarahhamilton

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #618 on: February 22, 2017, 10:16:00 pm »
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Hi! I was wondering if anyone could tell me any strategies for remembering cases for essay, or any mnemonics for the legal syllabus? Having a struggle :P
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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #619 on: February 23, 2017, 12:00:36 am »
+1
Thank you elyse! This definitely cleared it up!

EDIT: I'm really sorry but I have a few more questions!
1. How do I properly cite these cases? Farah Jamah 2008, Thomas Kelly Taser Incident, Cory Barker's arrest.
2. What are your thoughts on the Evidence Amendment (Evidence of Silence) Act 2013? Section 89A states that in an indictable offence, an "unfavourable inference may be drawn simply as a result of not mentioning a fact at the time of police questioning that is later relied on at trial." Do we still have a complete right so silence?

Hey again! Not a worry at all :) The Jama case is particularly bizarre because since 2015, I have searched for the official case citation and cannot find it ANYWHERE. My teacher searched too, and I even contacted a journalist who wrote a book about the case (but didn't get a reply). So, citing the Farah Jama case of 2008 is enough :) The Kelly Thomas Taser incident, are you talking about the 2011 incident in America? If so, simply providing the details briefly like, "The Kelly Thomas taser incident of 2011 in California..." With the Corey Barker incident, I don't know of the arrest situation? I only know that six officers had 25 charges between them for assaulting him, is this what you're referring to?

As for the second question, I see this interestingly. I understand that it slows down the investigative process and limits its efficiency if someone withholds statements during investigation but brings it forward during the trial. It leads people to think that someone has something to hide, and the prosecution don't like it because it makes it hard to prepare a case. So, yes we do have a right to silence, but not necessarily a right to silence that has no negative ramifications if exercised. So, I understand the reasoning as to why this logically and logistically has negative ramifications...I see both sides I guess.

:)
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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #620 on: February 23, 2017, 12:14:14 am »
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Hi! I was wondering if anyone could tell me any strategies for remembering cases for essay, or any mnemonics for the legal syllabus? Having a struggle :P

Hey! Something I used mnemonics for was remembering partial defences and full defences. I find the best mnemonics are about your friends, or class mates, and are usually funny. You're more likely to remember something about your friend and the guy she likes than you are going to remember a sentence like "the old man walks slowly." I think this was the only mnemonic I used for Legal.

Cases, so I probably had about three or so big cases that fed into lots of parts of the syllabus, and then smaller cases that were specifically relevant for one or two things. So I used the R V Bilal Skaf case as a huge case for lots of things. I made a poster for my desk about the case and it helped me to visually recall the aspects of jury misconduct, law reform, victim impact statements, public outcry, retrial, etc. So for me, visually arranging things was super important in order to help me remember! Otherwise, just plain rote learning and testing. Simply saying out loud, "Dietrich V the Queen - *enter relevance of the case here*" over and over would help commit things to memory.

Remember, only so much of the legal course is about understanding the concepts and knowing how the legal system works, the bulk of it is colouring it in with cases, arguments, themes and challenges, and so on. Yeah, for multiple choice we need to know some little intricacies, but for your essay, you need arguments :)

I suggest brainstorming essay plans. So write up the top of the page, "young offenders" and then write down everything you know about young offenders, facts, stats, arguments, cases, content, etc! This way you're forcing yourself to think quickly by raking your memory. It worked really well for me for my HSC preparation :)
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rodero

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #621 on: February 23, 2017, 05:52:07 am »
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Hey again! Not a worry at all :) The Jama case is particularly bizarre because since 2015, I have searched for the official case citation and cannot find it ANYWHERE. My teacher searched too, and I even contacted a journalist who wrote a book about the case (but didn't get a reply). So, citing the Farah Jama case of 2008 is enough :) The Kelly Thomas Taser incident, are you talking about the 2011 incident in America? If so, simply providing the details briefly like, "The Kelly Thomas taser incident of 2011 in California..." With the Corey Barker incident, I don't know of the arrest situation? I only know that six officers had 25 charges between them for assaulting him, is this what you're referring to?

As for the second question, I see this interestingly. I understand that it slows down the investigative process and limits its efficiency if someone withholds statements during investigation but brings it forward during the trial. It leads people to think that someone has something to hide, and the prosecution don't like it because it makes it hard to prepare a case. So, yes we do have a right to silence, but not necessarily a right to silence that has no negative ramifications if exercised. So, I understand the reasoning as to why this logically and logistically has negative ramifications...I see both sides I guess.

:)

Thanks again elyse :) My head must've been muddled up when I was writing the previous post. I meant to say the Roberto Curti taser incident, not the Kelly Thomas one! Also that's right, the Corey Barker arrest with the 6 officers is what I was referring to  ;D How should I properly cite these cases?
HSC 2017:
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ATAR: 96.75

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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #622 on: February 23, 2017, 06:22:51 am »
+1
Thanks again elyse :) My head must've been muddled up when I was writing the previous post. I meant to say the Roberto Curti taser incident, not the Kelly Thomas one! Also that's right, the Corey Barker arrest with the 6 officers is what I was referring to  ;D How should I properly cite these cases?

Haha that's okay! I had a feeling you mixed them up...Thomas Kelly is Australian, Kelly Thomas is American. As for the Roberto Curti case, I got sidetracked just now and read the Coroner's Report which is super interesting from about page 4-8. If you're talking specifically about the tasering, it is enough to mention Curti's name and the year. Two officers were later charged with common assault and two charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. If you wish to refer to these cases, their citation is available, but in honesty, not particularly necessary. The ombudsman's report, the coroner's report, and the Police Integrity Commission's report, are far more valuable to the analysis of this case! :)
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rodero

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #623 on: February 23, 2017, 03:29:50 pm »
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Haha that's okay! I had a feeling you mixed them up...Thomas Kelly is Australian, Kelly Thomas is American. As for the Roberto Curti case, I got sidetracked just now and read the Coroner's Report which is super interesting from about page 4-8. If you're talking specifically about the tasering, it is enough to mention Curti's name and the year. Two officers were later charged with common assault and two charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. If you wish to refer to these cases, their citation is available, but in honesty, not particularly necessary. The ombudsman's report, the coroner's report, and the Police Integrity Commission's report, are far more valuable to the analysis of this case! :)

Thank you elyse for the clarification! For anyone else interested in the coroner's report in response to the Roberto Curti taser incident 2012, the NSW Coroner Mary Jerram states the actions were "reckless, careless, dangerous, and
excessively forceful." A good quote in my opinion relating to the extent to which the law balances the rights of offenders in police powers. :)
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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #624 on: February 24, 2017, 02:12:33 am »
+1
Thank you elyse for the clarification! For anyone else interested in the coroner's report in response to the Roberto Curti taser incident 2012, the NSW Coroner Mary Jerram states the actions were "reckless, careless, dangerous, and
excessively forceful." A good quote in my opinion relating to the extent to which the law balances the rights of offenders in police powers. :)

Perfect quote! There's no guaranteed gain of trying to predict HSC questions. But, we haven't had a theme or challenge since 2014, so it wouldn't surprise me if one comes up this year. If they examine you on discretion (theme), police discretion and use of force is an excellent argument, and Curti's case is a great example to support you.
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rodero

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #625 on: February 24, 2017, 06:56:49 am »
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Perfect quote! There's no guaranteed gain of trying to predict HSC questions. But, we haven't had a theme or challenge since 2014, so it wouldn't surprise me if one comes up this year. If they examine you on discretion (theme), police discretion and use of force is an excellent argument, and Curti's case is a great example to support you.

Hey elyse, speaking of themes and challenges, I was wondering whether or not it should be mentioned in an essay that doesn't specifically ask for it. For instance, I think the t/c of the law balancing the rights of offenders, victims and society would pair well with the 2016 Young Offenders HSC question. Is it necessary to have this t/c in my thesis and argued throughout or should it just be weaved here and there.

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ATAR: 96.75

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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #626 on: February 24, 2017, 09:30:59 am »
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Hey elyse, speaking of themes and challenges, I was wondering whether or not it should be mentioned in an essay that doesn't specifically ask for it. For instance, I think the t/c of the law balancing the rights of offenders, victims and society would pair well with the 2016 Young Offenders HSC question. Is it necessary to have this t/c in my thesis and argued throughout or should it just be weaved here and there.

My advice is to bring up the themes and challenges in every single essay, even if not specified. I wrote about themes and challenges here and kind of broke down ways to engage each one. When used correctly, the sophistication of your essay increases. Compliance and non-compliance is possible to be used in every single crime essay you write. I think that balancing the rights of victim, offender and society is also a really easy one to incorporate (essentially, when you're assessing the effectiveness of something in legal studies, you usually look at these three frameworks anyway: victim, offender, suspect). So my advice is to definitely incorporate themes and challenges as regularly as is appropriate. Obviously, if you're throwing them in with no meaning you may as well not use them at all. But done skilfully, this is always a winner!
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rodero

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #627 on: February 24, 2017, 09:43:56 am »
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My advice is to bring up the themes and challenges in every single essay, even if not specified. I wrote about themes and challenges here and kind of broke down ways to engage each one. When used correctly, the sophistication of your essay increases. Compliance and non-compliance is possible to be used in every single crime essay you write. I think that balancing the rights of victim, offender and society is also a really easy one to incorporate (essentially, when you're assessing the effectiveness of something in legal studies, you usually look at these three frameworks anyway: victim, offender, suspect). So my advice is to definitely incorporate themes and challenges as regularly as is appropriate. Obviously, if you're throwing them in with no meaning you may as well not use them at all. But done skilfully, this is always a winner!

Thanks elyse! Definitely incorporating the themes and challenges in my essays :) How many do you recommend in an essay? Of course, I'll choose what is most relevant but what's your stance on having say, compliance/non compliance and balancing offenders, victims and society's in the same essay?

By the way, thank you so much for all the help you've  been giving me recently! I really appreciate it and it's definitely providing a better grasp of a difficult subject :)
HSC 2017:
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ATAR: 96.75

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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #628 on: February 24, 2017, 08:21:36 pm »
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Thanks elyse! Definitely incorporating the themes and challenges in my essays :) How many do you recommend in an essay? Of course, I'll choose what is most relevant but what's your stance on having say, compliance/non compliance and balancing offenders, victims and society's in the same essay?

By the way, thank you so much for all the help you've  been giving me recently! I really appreciate it and it's definitely providing a better grasp of a difficult subject :)

I mean, you could focus on compliance and non compliance, as well as balancing the rights, as two main themes that you keep coming back to. It's not difficult to build up a backbone of your essay if you keep coming back to these with each new argument, evaluating their effectiveness in both of those regards. But you may so happen to use the word discretion in a sentence about police powers, without actually focusing on discretion as a huge point in your essay. That's fine too! Talking about the moral and ethical standards of society isn't a difficult one to weave in either. And law reform probably comes up in a lot of essays naturally, talking about any kind of amendment, or talking about cases leading to law reform. So, you could potentially talk about every single theme and challenge in an essay, although that would never be my aim. I'd use one or two as the backbone for the argument, always coming back to it. And then if you use the other terms in a sophisticated manner throughout, then you're winning!

That's ok - I'm super glad I can help :) You're asking all the right questions, I know you're on the right track with this subject! :)
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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #629 on: March 01, 2017, 09:02:39 pm »
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Hello! Was wondering whether anyone had a case example for each of the human rights in the 'developing recognition of HR' points in the HSC syllabus

Cheers