Exam revision Flashcards
Delegated Legislation definition
delegated legislation is a law made by someone not in parliament but given power to make that law by parliament
Actus reus definition
Committing the act
mens rea definition
Having a guilty mind, it was premeditated at any point even seconds before. Not an accident.
Prosecution definition
Legal proceedings against someone in criminal law
Indictable offence definition
A very serious offence
Summary offence definition
Smaller not so serious offence
magistrates court
First level of court system: deals with summary offences eg traffic infringement, shoplifting, disorderly behavior. More serious offences: burglary, assault, fraud and drugs.
County court
Determines criminal, common law and commercial matters
Murder definition
unlawful premeditated killing of one human being to another
manslaughter definition
crime of killing another human being without malice aforethought. Not premeditated
Criminal Law definition
a system of law concerned with the punishment of offenders
Civil Law definition
A system of law concerned with private relations between members of a community rather than criminal, religious of military affairs
Common Law
derived from england and passed down from generation. is used as precedent if judges need to make a decision not covered by legislation
Plaintiff definition
a person who brings the case into a court of law
Negligence definition
Failure to exercise a degree of care or caution necessary to protect others from harm.
Elements: duty, affirmative duty, rendering aid, breach of duty, causation(direct, proximate), damages
Supreme Court
hears the most serious criminal, and complex civil cases is the state. highest court in Victoria.
Statutory Law
written law passed by a body of legislature. Steps:
MP prepares bill
first reading - title give copy to MPs
Second reading - why, debate
Third reading - discuss, change, vote
Other house - repeat readings if voted no, repeat
GG - royal assent,effect
High Court
interpret and apply law of australia. hear against decisions of other courts. deals with the constitution
Causation definition
Direct and proximate cause by the defendant resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
Remedy definition
in civil law it is the sanction to help remedy the victim. apology, compensation, promotion ect.
Defendant definition
individual, company sued or accused in the court of law
Social Cohesion definition
the strength of relationship between members of a communit
Sanctions definition and purposes
punishment imposed by the court : community correction, fine, imprisonment
purposes:
rehabilitation, punishment, deterrence, denunciation, protection
Defamation definition
harming another persons reputation
RECKS
Characteristics of an effective law:
Reflect society’s values
Enforceable
Clear and understood
Known
Stable
Principles of Justice
Equality, fairness, access
2 reasons for Court Hierarchy
If a person does not agree with a decision they can appeal to the court ranked higher
Specialisation: each court has different purposes, speeding up the court processes.
Difference between criminal and civil law
Civil law focuses on disputes between parties
criminal law is when prosecutions are brought up against individuals or companies when a lawis broken
purposes of the law, examples
Maintaining order, resolving disputes, protecting human rights, establishing standards, preventing harm to civilians
examples: roads, tax ect.
Elements of murder
There are 6 elements of murder:
The killing is unlawful
The victim is a human being
The accused was a person over the age of discretion (10y in Australia)
The accused caused the victim’s death(causation, direct link)
The accused person was of sound mind
There was a malice forethought and afterthought
Defences to murder
The 5 defences to murder are:
Self defence
Mental impairment
Duress - a belief that a threat exists
Sudden or extraordinary emergency - usually traffic offences
Involuntary actions - intoxicated, automatism
Judge considerations when sentencing
Aggravating and mitigating factors, priors, mental impairment, remorse, guilty plea, assault on arrest, crime and the severity, evidence to support the case, standard sentence, culpability(how much they are to blame, victim impact
Anarchy definition
the absence of rule or law or of settled government
Aggravating and mitigating factors
Things that lessen or worsen your sentence
Upper House
senate, 76 seats, proportional voting 6 year position
Labour party
Major centre left political party
Lower House
house of reps
151 seats, preferential voting, 3 year position
Bicameral definition
2 houses
member of parliament definition
in house of reps, forms gov
Parliament
consists of the two houses and the king represented by the governor general
liberal Party
centre right political party
Referendum
to change constitution
Governor general
represents the king, signs off on new bills
Bill definition
a proposal for law or legislation
treaty,Act definition
eliminating racial discrimination,
racial discrimination act
Liberal democracy
emphasises the seperation of powers
Safeguards and threats to democracy
safeguards:
commonwealth
separation of powers
voting for mp’s and pms
expressed rights
fair and equal elections
constitution
victorian charter of human rights
Threats:
republic debate
media
social media
war
ageing population
global events vested interest groups eg banks businesses.
separation of powers
legislative, judicial and executive
implied rights
rights that underlie actual words in the constitution but are not explicitly stated in the constitution.
Indos system of gov
3 levels: legislative, executive and judiciary
in political parties 30% must be women
Death penalty
republic
lower house 575 seats
upper house 136
bill doesn’t have to be passed through both houses
elections held every 5 y onb the same day
must be 17yo or married to vote
3 levels of gov, responsibilities
Federal:
Currency
Defence
Marriage
Customs and border protection
Australian citizenship
State:
Primary and secondary education
Health services
Water
Electricity
Public transport
Local:
Local infrastructure (e.g. roads, footpaths, waste collection)
Recreational facilities(e.g. Parks libraries, swimming pools)
Age care facilities
Child care facilities
Australia’s relationship with UN
one of the 51 founding members, australia funded 12.725 million to the united nations development programme (UNDP) and 21 million to the United nations children fund (UNICEF)
explain definition
why/how, cause and effect
compare definition
similarities and differences
Evaluate definition
strengths and weaknesses
Describe definition
characteristics of a feature
identify definition
name it
Discuss definition
points for and against an argument
Justify definition
prove a statement with evidence
Examine definition
establish key facts and important issues related to the topic
Distinguish definition
what is the difference
Define definition
provide a definition
outline definition
provide a brief summary
