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Author Topic: HSC Legal Studies Question Thread  (Read 568084 times)  Share 

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sophiegmaher

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #675 on: March 14, 2017, 02:52:17 pm »
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Alrighty I have 2 questions:
1. Which human rights are collective rights? I know self-determination is one, but I don't know which other ones are. Aren't all human rights mentioned in the syllabus collective, like Labour Rights and Education..? What determines the ones that fall into this category?
2. For the last Theme and Challenge "Effectiveness of legal and non-legal measures", would things like Auditor General reports, Attorney General reports, surveys or the ALRC "Seen and Heard" report be considered non-legal measures..? For example, the ALRC "Seen and Heard" report is particularly effective as it facilitated law reform of the Bail Act 1978 (NSW) to the Bail Act 2013 (NSW) where it criticised previous amendments made to the initial statute as undermining the presumption of bail for young offenders.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2017, 02:58:54 pm by sophiegmaher »
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grace.estelle

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #676 on: March 14, 2017, 09:38:20 pm »
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Hi Elyse/Jamon, I'm unsure of how to go about answering a question which focuses on the theme of "encouraging cooperation and resolving conflict" in family law. It must also be on the contemporary issues. I suppose for 'recognition of same-sex relationships' i could talk about the conflict between Christian lobbies and Australia Marriage Equality? I feel like this would be a very narrow argument though so are there any other suggestions?

Also, My legal teacher always says how we should aim for at least 5 legal arguments in our essays however I am confused with what a legal argument is.  :-\ She keeps saying that it is not 5 paragraphs though because a legal argument can be discussed in say, 2-3 paragraphs. What is your opinion on this? Also, say if I was to talk about the one idea over 3 paragraphs, would I still need a topic sentence/concluding sentence for each of the 3 paragraphs even if they link to the same idea?

Thanks!

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« Last Edit: March 15, 2017, 09:16:29 am by grace.estelle »
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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #677 on: March 15, 2017, 08:40:01 am »
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Alrighty I have 2 questions:
1. Which human rights are collective rights? I know self-determination is one, but I don't know which other ones are. Aren't all human rights mentioned in the syllabus collective, like Labour Rights and Education..? What determines the ones that fall into this category?


Hey Sophie! You're asking two questions that I struggled with during the HSC so hopefully I can articulate them to you the way that I learnt how to remember them. For the first question, there is no clear cut answer. In terms of Legal HSC - Collective rights are Environmental Rights, Self Determination and the Right to Peace. But any of these can be disputed, I know because I've studied them beyond HSC. The difference is that collective rights belong to a GROUP/COMMUNITY. The right to education belongs to each individual - every individual has a right to be educated. You could of course say, every individual has a right to a clean environment. The difference is, that environmental rights also apply to the future generations. So the debate around this right is that current generations are taking a right away from future generations that they are collectively entitled to - if we are destroying the environment. It also has a lot to do with the way the right was developed. In Africa, Environmental Rights have been discussed quite officially, or at least a lot more than in Australia. Collective rights are easier to define and carve out when the group it applies to is very specific, but as the group grows, so does the debate over it's title as a "collective" right. If we reaaallly look into it, the idea of collective rights as being a distinction to individual rights is a bit of a contradiction, because a collection of people is made up by a number of individuals, so I totally see why you find it difficult to make the distinction. This Quora thread provides some good ideas, but it may complicate the idea for you more. Essentially what I'm saying is, in the HSC sense - the right to environment, self determination and right to peace are collective (although some textbooks say peace is more a human right, I have been told by students). But, in a real life sense, the idea of collective rights is debatable, but the HSC only aims to introduce you to the notion, rather than get you to debate it. Self Determination, to me, is the clearest example of a collective right. The group it relates to is so specifically laid out - it was created for Indigenous groups. So, it belongs to a cultural population/demographic, rather than individuals who happen to be grouped. To me, this is the clearest cut example, but hopefully you can see there is some contradiction!

2. For the last Theme and Challenge "Effectiveness of legal and non-legal measures", would things like Auditor General reports, Attorney General reports, surveys or the ALRC "Seen and Heard" report be considered non-legal measures..? For example, the ALRC "Seen and Heard" report is particularly effective as it facilitated law reform of the Bail Act 1978 (NSW) to the Bail Act 2013 (NSW) where it criticised previous amendments made to the initial statute as undermining the presumption of bail for young offenders.
Again, I struggled with this too. I say, yes they are non-legal measures. Although the position of the Attorney General is legislated, and it is legislated that we must have a Human Rights Commission, it doesn't mean that the actions of these are legal measures. So the report is not a legal measure, although it was produced by a body that is legally mandated - because the report doesn't make law automatically. In order for the report's findings to be turned into law reform, it needs to go through the legislative body of government (legal measure). I always found it to be unclear, and I specifically remember asking Jamon and my friend's older brother for help with this during my HSC. A body can be legislated, but it doesn't mean that their actions are legal measures. The police force is legislated, and their actions are often legal measures. But it isn't the same with the Attorney General, not all of his actions are legal measures, so to say.

Hopefully this clears things up a bit! These are two things I struggled with so hopefully you're following the way I've explained it all... :)
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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #678 on: March 15, 2017, 09:24:50 am »
+1
Hi Elyse/Jamon, I'm unsure of how to go about answering a question which focuses on the theme of "encouraging cooperation and resolving conflict" in family law. It must also be on the contemporary issues. I suppose for 'recognition of same-sex relationships' i could talk about the conflict between Christian lobbies and Australia Marriage Equality? I feel like this would be a very narrow argument though so are there any other suggestions?

Thanks!

Also, My legal teacher always says how we should aim for at least 5 legal arguments in our essays however I am confused with what a legal argument is.  :-\ She keeps saying that it is not 5 paragraphs though because a legal argument can be discussed in say, 2-3 paragraphs. What is your opinion on this? Also, say if I was to talk about the one idea over 3 paragraphs, would I still need a topic sentence/concluding sentence for each of the 3 paragraphs even if they link to the same idea?

Thanks!


Hey Grace! In relation to the first question...
This is a tricky question. Out of the four contemporary issues, the question lends itself far more easily to the changing nature of parental responsibility and the care and protection of children. So much of the Family syllabus relates to these two topics more, especially in relation to divorce and separation. Do you have to talk about each contemporary issue or is it ok to choose the two that it relates to most? Because admittedly, I think that you've taken the best approach to marriage equality despite it being a very narrow road.

As for your second question - can you give me an example of what your teacher suggests a legal argument is? I am interpreting it to be lots of things and I don't know it's necessarily linking up with your teacher's instructions. If a legal argument is a point that argues for or against the question, then I think 5 is pretty solid. But, you could spend a paragraph per argument with some essay structures, and give a case as evidence for each. Or, you could follow the same argument in two different paragraphs but show how the same measure has manifested in different levels of effectiveness in each case. I don't want to contradict what your teacher has suggested, and there are soooo many ways to structure a legal essay, but if my understanding is the same as your teacher's, this is what I think! :)
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grace.estelle

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #679 on: March 15, 2017, 03:52:19 pm »
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Hey Grace! In relation to the first question...
This is a tricky question. Out of the four contemporary issues, the question lends itself far more easily to the changing nature of parental responsibility and the care and protection of children. So much of the Family syllabus relates to these two topics more, especially in relation to divorce and separation. Do you have to talk about each contemporary issue or is it ok to choose the two that it relates to most? Because admittedly, I think that you've taken the best approach to marriage equality despite it being a very narrow road.

As for your second question - can you give me an example of what your teacher suggests a legal argument is? I am interpreting it to be lots of things and I don't know it's necessarily linking up with your teacher's instructions. If a legal argument is a point that argues for or against the question, then I think 5 is pretty solid. But, you could spend a paragraph per argument with some essay structures, and give a case as evidence for each. Or, you could follow the same argument in two different paragraphs but show how the same measure has manifested in different levels of effectiveness in each case. I don't want to contradict what your teacher has suggested, and there are soooo many ways to structure a legal essay, but if my understanding is the same as your teacher's, this is what I think! :)

We have to talk about three of the four - care and protection of children, recognition of same-sex relationships and surrogacy and birth technologies.

My teacher told me that one legal argument is a discussion on one area of law but I don't really understand specifically what she means  :-\ I think she might mean for example 'legal requirements of marriage' would be one area of law. I'm not too sure...
Also when you say argue for or against the question, would I argue both ways in the one paragraph or do you suggest starting a new paragraph?

What is your recommended number of paragraphs to do?  :)
« Last Edit: March 15, 2017, 03:56:26 pm by grace.estelle »
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grace.estelle

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #680 on: March 15, 2017, 06:04:58 pm »
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Hi Jamon, I was just looking at your '7 common mistakes' guide and I was wondering what is the difference between how to answer 'describe' and 'assess' essay questions? I often get told I'm describing too much and need to put in more analysis/make more evaluations etc even if its in an explain/describe question? So what is the difference in the level of analysis or evaluations needed for 'describe' and 'assess' questions?

Thank you!
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jamonwindeyer

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #681 on: March 15, 2017, 06:50:57 pm »
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Hi Jamon, I was just looking at your '7 common mistakes' guide and I was wondering what is the difference between how to answer 'describe' and 'assess' essay questions? I often get told I'm describing too much and need to put in more analysis/make more evaluations etc even if its in an explain/describe question? So what is the difference in the level of analysis or evaluations needed for 'describe' and 'assess' questions?

Thank you!

Hey Grace!

So you'll never get a 'Describe' essay question - The verb is too low order (meaning you aren't being asked to do enough for an essay). Buuut, you might get Describe questions in your short answers!

If you get a short answer question with 'Describe' it means to give the main features of. So if you were asked to 'Describe' the Separation of Powers, you would go through what the legislature, executive and judiciary all are. This is different to being asked to explain the role of the separation of powers; this requires acknowledging things like the rule of law, the interpretation of the judiciary - WHY the separation of powers exists. Then evaluating would be a step higher again - Does it do a good or bad job (likely in protecting human rights)? ;D

Most, if not all of your essays, will be to analyse or assess. Neither of these will involve description, meaning things like:

- Describing the details of a case you reference
- Describing the specific laws in a piece of legislation you reference
- Describing exactly what a "crime against humanity" is
- Describing what "post sentencing considerations" are

All of those are no goes - Your marker knows this course, they don't need to be told what things are or have features listed. They just want analysis - What role do the mechanisms play? How good of a job do they do? :)

I hope this helps you out!! Don't worry, I had trouble with too much description in my senior years too - It takes practice! :)

Oh, and in relation to your above question (I'll let Elyse tag in properly), but I reckon one paragraph per contemporary issue sounds good? You need to do three, so do three paragraphs! And you could argue for effectiveness/ineffectiveness in the same paragraph, if you wanted to, or you could say that we are effective in responding to one issue, but ineffective for another. Tailor it to your own perceptions and what you want to argue ;D
« Last Edit: March 15, 2017, 06:54:11 pm by jamonwindeyer »

elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #682 on: March 15, 2017, 07:55:12 pm »
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We have to talk about three of the four - care and protection of children, recognition of same-sex relationships and surrogacy and birth technologies.

My teacher told me that one legal argument is a discussion on one area of law but I don't really understand specifically what she means  :-\ I think she might mean for example 'legal requirements of marriage' would be one area of law. I'm not too sure...
Also when you say argue for or against the question, would I argue both ways in the one paragraph or do you suggest starting a new paragraph?

What is your recommended number of paragraphs to do?  :)

Ok, I don't really know what your teacher means but I can assume you're correct. You can really do whatever you deem fit in terms of structure, you need to gauge it on how much you have to say about it. So, if I was talking about divorce, and the required length of separation before divorce (one year), I could discuss the effectiveness of this in one paragraph (suggesting mediation, the kiss and makeup clause, time for emotions to simmer down), and then the next paragraph could be on how this is ineffective because it delays the process of moving on, it may be traumatic and turbulent for children, and it doesn't really provide appreciation for couple's who have done a separation on their own before but didn't alert the law. So, I have a lot to say about this so I'd do it in two paragraphs. But, I have far less to say about the legal requirements of marriage, so I might do the fors and against all in one paragraph. So, if you do take on about 5 legal arguments as your teacher suggested and it sounds fair to me, then I think you might only give a legal argument one paragraph, but you might give the next one two paragraphs! They don't always have to be given equal treatment, as some sections of the syllabus will provide for more debate than others :)
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grace.estelle

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #683 on: March 15, 2017, 08:58:12 pm »
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Hey Grace!

So you'll never get a 'Describe' essay question - The verb is too low order (meaning you aren't being asked to do enough for an essay). Buuut, you might get Describe questions in your short answers!

If you get a short answer question with 'Describe' it means to give the main features of. So if you were asked to 'Describe' the Separation of Powers, you would go through what the legislature, executive and judiciary all are. This is different to being asked to explain the role of the separation of powers; this requires acknowledging things like the rule of law, the interpretation of the judiciary - WHY the separation of powers exists. Then evaluating would be a step higher again - Does it do a good or bad job (likely in protecting human rights)? ;D

Most, if not all of your essays, will be to analyse or assess. Neither of these will involve description, meaning things like:

- Describing the details of a case you reference
- Describing the specific laws in a piece of legislation you reference
- Describing exactly what a "crime against humanity" is
- Describing what "post sentencing considerations" are

All of those are no goes - Your marker knows this course, they don't need to be told what things are or have features listed. They just want analysis - What role do the mechanisms play? How good of a job do they do? :)

I hope this helps you out!! Don't worry, I had trouble with too much description in my senior years too - It takes practice! :)

Oh, and in relation to your above question (I'll let Elyse tag in properly), but I reckon one paragraph per contemporary issue sounds good? You need to do three, so do three paragraphs! And you could argue for effectiveness/ineffectiveness in the same paragraph, if you wanted to, or you could say that we are effective in responding to one issue, but ineffective for another. Tailor it to your own perceptions and what you want to argue ;D

ok sweet, I love short answers  ;D But if you were to describe/explain in a short answer, would you still give examples such as cases, legal measures etc to support?

Yep I think at the moment I am arguing we are effective in one area but ineffective in dealing with another issue. For a more general question though, would writing only three paragraphs be insufficient?
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grace.estelle

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #684 on: March 15, 2017, 09:07:09 pm »
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Ok, I don't really know what your teacher means but I can assume you're correct. You can really do whatever you deem fit in terms of structure, you need to gauge it on how much you have to say about it. So, if I was talking about divorce, and the required length of separation before divorce (one year), I could discuss the effectiveness of this in one paragraph (suggesting mediation, the kiss and makeup clause, time for emotions to simmer down), and then the next paragraph could be on how this is ineffective because it delays the process of moving on, it may be traumatic and turbulent for children, and it doesn't really provide appreciation for couple's who have done a separation on their own before but didn't alert the law. So, I have a lot to say about this so I'd do it in two paragraphs. But, I have far less to say about the legal requirements of marriage, so I might do the fors and against all in one paragraph. So, if you do take on about 5 legal arguments as your teacher suggested and it sounds fair to me, then I think you might only give a legal argument one paragraph, but you might give the next one two paragraphs! They don't always have to be given equal treatment, as some sections of the syllabus will provide for more debate than others :)

Ok thank you for clarifying!! And wow your example is soooo good, made me realise my essays need a lot of work  :'(
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elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #685 on: March 15, 2017, 09:10:55 pm »
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Ok thank you for clarifying!! And wow your example is soooo good, made me realise my essays need a lot of work  :'(

Admittedly, my views on divorce and the law have changed since seeing someone close to me go through it, these weren't my exact thoughts in the HSC! Family Law is fun though, because you can really plant yourself into a situation and think "How would I feel if this happened in my family?" and that's how I came up with the ideas about it being turbulent for children, etc... Everyone is part of a family of some kind, so you can form your opinions accordingly :)

Good luck! :)
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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #686 on: March 16, 2017, 05:58:21 pm »
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Hi!

When does a case that is appealed go to the Court of Criminal Appeal or the next court with appellate jurisdiction? I'm a bit confused when thinking about this.
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kiiaaa

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #687 on: March 16, 2017, 06:08:43 pm »
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hello

i was wondering how do you incorporate themes and challenges in the syllabus within an essay. i never understood how to and everying one said so i was like =/ thank you  :)

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #688 on: March 16, 2017, 07:15:49 pm »
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Hey Elyse, i have my legal half yearly coming up and i got the question for my crime extended response: "To what extent has criminal law reform been effective in achieving justice?". It is worth 15 marks and i am aiming to get a mark in the A range. I was just wondering if you had any advice on what to include and how to strucutre it, e.g how many different examples of law reform i should include. Thanks heaps :)

elysepopplewell

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Re: Legal Studies Question Thread
« Reply #689 on: March 16, 2017, 07:22:22 pm »
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hello

i was wondering how do you incorporate themes and challenges in the syllabus within an essay. i never understood how to and everying one said so i was like =/ thank you  :)

Hey there! I wrote a little guide on this here that might help! You don't need to incorporate every single theme and challenge in a response, but you should judiciously select the best for your essay! I find that compliance and non-compliance are very easy to use for crime seeing as crime is non-compliance, afterall! You don't have to feature full arguments around them, although I suppose you can, the main intention is for you to use the legal vocabulary with sophistication! :)
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