foundations of the legal system

Question 1

Social Cohesion Definition

Answer 1

The ability of a community to live together in a peaceful, orderly, and harmonious manner by recognizing that all people have rights and responsibilities.

Question 2

What do you have to include when talking about rules, laws and customs?

Answer 2

Who creates it? Who is applies to? What are the consequences? Who enforces it?

Question 3

What are laws?

Answer 3

legal guidelines that everyone in society must follow. they are made my parliament or courts and enforced by police. breaking the law > sanctions such as fines

Question 4

What are rules?

Answer 4

non-legal guidelines which apply to a specific group of people. they are made my non-legal institutions and the consequences vary but can be a fine, ban or detention, it is enforced by non-legal individuals

Question 5

What are customs?

Answer 5

Customs are socially acceptable habits that have become common practice. they are made by society, interpreted by society and enforced by society, not adhering to them > may lead to social exclusion, labelling eg

Question 6

What are the five characteristics of an effective law?

Answer 6

1) Known
2) Enforceable
3) Reflect society’s values
4) Laws should be stable
5) Laws should be clear

Question 7

What does Known and Enforceable involve for an effective law?

Answer 7

Known = Laws must be known in order for people to follow. Ignorance of law = X an excuse
Enforceable = Laws need to be able to be monitored and consequences when breached

Question 8

What does it mean for laws to reflect society’s values, be stable and clear?

Answer 8

Reflect society’s values = laws should uphold beliefs of majority
Laws should be stable = shouldn’t change rapidly to avoid inconsistency and confusion
Laws should be clear = X legal jargon and able to be understood by community

Question 9

What are the principles of justice?

Answer 9

Fairness, Equality, Access

Question 10

What is the definition of Fairness?

Answer 10

All people can participate in the justice system and its processes should be impartial and open.

Question 11

What are the two sub groups of justice and what do they involve?

Answer 11

-Impartial; means showing no bias towards or against any party (eg trial should be based on facts not individual thoughts and biases)
-Open; means that legal processes must be open and transparent (eg media and community can scrutinize and people can watch cases)

Question 12

What is the definition of equality?

Answer 12

All people engaging with the justice system and its processes should be treated in the same way.

Question 13

What are the two types of equality and what do they mean?

Answer 13

-Formal; Both parties are treated the exact same (eg both parties are equal opportunity to present cases in court)
-Substantive; A party is treated differently to ensure there are equal outcomes (eg young people under age of 18 have the right to have a guardian present when being interviewed by police)

Question 14

What is the definition of access?

Answer 14

All people should be able to engage with the justice system and its processes on an informed basis.

Question 15

What are some examples of what justice looks like in our legal system?

Answer 15

• Having access to an interpreter if needed
• Being able to access a court in geographical area
• The ability to access legal representation even if you cannot afford it

Question 16

What was the date that Australia federated and why did they federate?

Answer 16

1st January 1901. They federated to make trade easier, control immigration and improve defense.

Question 17

What is the constitution?

Answer 17

A guidebook for how Australia should be structured, run and governed.

Question 18

What is the separation of powers?

Answer 18

Constitution separated functions of legal system into parliament, executive and judiciary.

Parliament/legislative = makes and amends the laws

Executive (Governor-General) = puts the law into action

Judiciary (courts) = makes judgements about the law

Question 19

What is the role of the Governor-General?

Answer 19

-To give royal assent to laws made by houses of parliament
-Formally swear the Prime Minister in

Question 20

What does the commonwealth parliament consist of?

Answer 20

-The Kind (represented by the Governor-General)
-The two houses (House of reps and senate)

Question 21

Explain the HOR

Answer 21

It is the lower house. It is green. Made up of 151 seats b/c each seat represents an electorate of ~110,000. Roles = People’s house (represents spread of opinions and beliefs), House of Govt (political party that wins most seats forms govt), Introduces Bills (most bills are first introduced in the lower house as this is where govt sitd)

Question 22

Explain the senate

Answer 22

It is the upper house. It is red. Made up of 76 seats that have 12 for each state and 2 for each territory. Roles = States house (represents interests of states), House of Review (while senate can introduce bills, it mostly reviews and debates bills past by HOR)

Question 23

What is the division of powers

Answer 23

Exclusive powers = commonwealth/federal govt control eg defense/trade

Concurrent = shared between commonwealth and states eg education/health

Residual = X in constitution and by states eg public transport/civil law

Question 24

Describe the Vic parliament

Answer 24

Made up of Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly.

Legislative council = lower house, 88 members, purpose = elected MPs represent interests of voters from their electorates

Legislative assembly = upper house, 40 members, purpose = to ensure that rural and metropolitan regions are given equal representation.

Governor represents king.