Key elements of of the Australian Legal System

Question 1

What are the express rights included in the Australian Constitution?

Answer 1

s 116 - freedom of religion
s 117 - equal treatment of state residents
s 80 - right to trial by jury
s 50 (xxxi) - acquisition of property on just terms

Question 2

What are the sources of law in Australia?

Answer 2

• Australian Constitution
• State constitutions
• State and Federal statutes
• Judicial interpretations of those statutes
• The common law (case law)
• International law - can influence (like with Mabo no. 2)

Question 3

_____ law is the law governing relations between individual(s) and the state.

Answer 3

Public

Question 4

_____ law is the law concerned with relationship between citizens; law governing relations between individuals; including organisations.

Answer 4

Private

Question 5

What is civil law?

Answer 5

The law of private disputes; The law dealing with disputes between individuals, or between organisations, or between both providing for compensation from the party in breach of an obligation.

Question 6

What is criminal law?

Answer 6

Concerned with standards of conduct, which when breached may result in a fine or imprisonment

Question 7

What is customary law?

Answer 7

the legal systems developed by indigenous societies before the development of common law and civil law legal systems

Question 8

What is natural law?

Answer 8

The law of nature; law as the emanation of the Divine Providence, rooted in the nature and reason of humankind
influenced both the common law and civil law systems