Law and Order Flashcards
What does the Commonwealth parliament do?
Makes laws for Australia as a whole and is the Prime Minister making the decisions.
What is the Victorian parliament?
Makes decisions for the state of Victoria and is the premier making decisions.
What is the Lower House? (2)
House of Representatives
Legislative assembly
What is the Upper House? (2)
Senate
Legislative council
How many members are in the house of reps?
151 members (commonwealth)
How many members are in the Legislative assembly?
88 members (vic)
How many members are in the senate?
76 members (commonwealth)
How many members are in the legislative council?
40 members (vic)
Who is the King’s Representative and who appoints them?
The Governor General (cwth) or Governor (vic) and they are appointed by the King.
How is a law made (9)
1st reading (1st)
2nd reading (1st)
consideration in detail (1st)
3rd reading (1st)
1st reading (2nd)
2nd reading (2nd)
consideration in detail (2nd)
3rd reading (2nd)
ROYAL ASSENT
What are some reasons for a law to change
- change in policy
- pressure from outside of parliament
- change in world
- different political party
What does the majority mean?
The majority of votes in both houses of parliament
How many votes do you need to pass a law?
You need half of of amount of people in the house (so if there is 88 people, then 44) plus one (so 45 votes to get the majority)
What is the balance of power?
It is the position held by minor parties or individual members of parliament when their vote is necessary for bills or motions to be passed.
What does the VLRC stand for?
Victorian Law Reform Commision
Can the VLRC change laws?
No, they cannot change laws, however, they make recommendations to Parliament on how they should change.
How old do you have to be to leave school without doing anything?
17
What if you are below 17 and want to leave school?
You must have finished year 10 and you have to spend at least 25 hours per week in a combo of education, training and employment
What age do you have to be to drink, buy or possess alcohol?
18
What is the possible fine for someone who supplies alcohol to a minor without a parent’s consent?
Up to $10,000
What are the 2 things you need to drink alcohol under 18 LEGALLY?
Parental consent and responsible supervision from whichever adult is in charge of the minor
What do people under the age of 18 involved in sexting activities get charged for?
Charged with either child pornography offences and they were treated the same as adult paedophiles
What is sexting officially called?
Distributing an intimate image
What is the maximum penalty for threatening to send an intimate image of a person to others
One year in jail
What is the enterprise agreement?
An agreement between the specific company/employer you work for and all of its workers
What is the FWO?
Fair work ombudsman
What does the FWO do? (3)
- Provides free assistance to workers who cannot solve their workplace issues
- Suggests solutions to fix the problems
- Takes bosses who breach your workplace rights to court
What does the FWO not do? (3)
- Orders bosses or workers to do things
- Fine people or send them to jail
- Resolve complaints where worker has not tried themselves to talk to their boss to solve things
What is the adversarial trial?
Contest between 2 teams infront of an impartial adjudicator to resolve conflicts
What is the first step of the pre-trial procedure?
Investigation and charging of the accused
What is the second step of the pre-trial procedure?
Collection of evidence and plea
What is the third step of the pre-trial procedure?
Committal
What are the 4 steps in the investigation and charging of the accused?
- crime is committed
- police attend the scene
- police gather evidence
- police charge the accused
What is the collection of evidence and plea? (3+1)
- process takes a very long time
1. police collect evidence
2. share evidence with prosecution and accused
3. accused pleads to charges
(if not guilty no case, if guilty moves to committal)
What is the committal hearing ?
pre-trial hearing for indictable offences which are going
to be tried in the County or Supreme Court where the accused has pleaded not guilty
- held in magistrates court
What are plea negotiations?
Discussions relating to the charges faced by the accused, discussed between the prosecution and the accused
What are the purposes of plea negotiations? (4)
- resolve the case quickly
- avoid the need for witnesses to suffer through the trauma of having to testify and be cross-examined
- manage the risk associated with a trial for both sides
- acelerate closure for victims
What is the purpose of a criminal trial?
determine the guilt or otherwise of the person charged with the crime
What is a hung jury?
a totally new trial with a new jury is heard
What is evidence?
Facts or information to support an assertion
What are the 3 different types of evidence?
- irrelevant evidence
- hearsay evidence
- improperly obtained evidence
What is irrelevant evidence?
stuff that is not relevant or material to the matters in dispute in the trial cannot be admitted in evidence
What is hearsay evidence?
evidence of a statement made out of court which is introduced to prove the truth of a fact asserted in the statement
What is improperly obtained evidence?
the police have certain powers in relation to the gathering of evidence
When are criminal juries used?
juries are only used in the county or supreme courts (serious offences)
What are criminal juries? (4)
- 12 people
- selected at random
- has to be a unanimous verdict mostly, or sometimes a majority verdict
- cannot find a person guilty unless convinced beyond reasonable doubt
What are the legal requirements for CULPABLE driving involving death? (3)
- accused was driving a motor vehicle
- accused driving caused the death of a victim
- accused was grossly negligent
What are the legal requirements for DANGEROUS driving involving death? (3)
- accused was driving a motor vehicle
- accused driving caused death of a victim
- accused drove dangerously
What is a fine?
fine is a monetary penalty imposed on an offender
When can fines be issued? (2)
- form of an infringement notice
- as a sanction by the court
What is a community correction order?
supervised sentence served in the community
What are 3 mandatory conditions of CCO’s?
- you cannot leave Victoria without permission
- you must notify your officer of change of address
- you must report to officer frequently and listen to their
directions
What are 4 optional conditions of CCO’s? (tailored to individual)
- unpaid community work (maximum of 600 hours)
- treatment and rehabilitation programs
- area exclusion, curfew, non-association
- supervision (officer meets offender according to specified frequency)
What is the maximum term for each offence stated?
Legislation
What is parole?
allows the prisoner to serve part of their sentence of imprisonment in the community (under strict conditions and supervision)
How do you apply for parole?
eligible prisoners must apply to the Adult Parole Board.
What does the adult parole board do? (2)
- whether to grant, deny or defer parole
- decide the conditions of parole
What is youth diversion? (4+1)
sanction that provides an opportunity for eligible
young people appearing before the Children’s Court to -
- accept responsibility for their behaviour
- complete a diversion program
- have the charges against them dropped, upon successful completion of the diversion plan
- avoid the negative stigma associated with a criminal record
What is the diversion programs aim? (2)
- build upon or strengthen the individual’s protective factor
- promote understanding of the harm caused by the offence
Who is eligible for youth diversion? (3)
- offender must almost always be a first time offender
- charge must relate to a minor crime
- offender has to acknowledge that they did wrong
Who is the diversion program run by
Children’s Court Youth Diversion Services (CCYD)
What are some advantages of the death penalty? (4)
- saves money
- deterrence
- an eye for an eye (provides justice for victims)
- community protection
What are some disadvantages of the death penalty? (4)
- barbaric and inhumane
- lets killers off to easily
- cannot be reversed
- no second chance
What are some factors of civil law? (4)
- doesn’t involve police or prison (not usually court)
- private disputes between two individuals
- protects individual rights
- all about rights and responsibilities
3 Reasons for criminal law?
- protects our rights
- impose duty on others not to harm us/infringe upon our rights
- provide a solution if our rights are breached
What is burden of proof?
obligation of establishing the case
(whose job is it to prove something)
- civil case is plaintiff
- criminal case is prosecution
What is standard of proof?
what level/degree of proof do you need in order to
fulfil your burden
(how much proof do you need)
2 types of standard of proof
balance of probability (civil)
beyond reasonable doubt (criminal)
do most civil cases go to court
no
What is a plaintiff?
the person suing
What is a defendant?
the person being sued
What is the plaintiff seeking?
a remedy
What are the 2 types of jurisdiction for a court?
original
appellate
What is original jurisdiction?
the power to hear cases for the first time
What is appellate jurisdiction?
the power to hear appeals
What is the order of the court hierachy?
High court
Court of appeal
Supreme court (trial division)
County Court
Magistrates court
(+ children’s court and coroners court)
What is an appeal? (3)
- case gets re-heard by judge with specialized knowledge and expertise
- earlier decision reviewed
- earlier decision confirmed (appeal is dismissed) /changed (appeal upheld)
What are the 3 reasons for a court hierarchy?
- Specialisation/experience/expertise
- Appeals
- Efficiency/ saves time and money
What is a precedent?
a judgement of a court that establishes a legal principle or point of law
3 elements of the doctrine of precedent
- All inferior (lower down) courts are bound to follow the decisions of superior (higher up) courts
- Courts only have to follow decision made by superior courts in the same hierarchy
- Cases must involve same material (important) facts
What is a binding?
decision made by superior court is binding on all inferior courts in that jurisdiction where the cases involve materially similar facts
What is a persuasive?
- decision of court in another hierarchy (eg. NSW)
- decision of equal or lower court in the same hierarchy
What are the 2 things precedents can be?
binding or persuasive
What is nuisance?
When the right of our enjoyment of our property – specifically the property we lawfully occupy is breached.
3 elements for it to be nuisance
- there is an action that was substantial
- the nuisance was unreasonable
- damage or harm was caused
What is substantial?
needs to be significant, has to happen more than once
What is unreasonable? (5)
court considers -
- type of interference
- time of day
- how often it occurs
- the neighbourhood
- how long it has existed
The plaintiff needs to show 3 things for it to be nuisance.
- something substantial
- something unreasonable
- damage was caused
3 elements for defamation
- defendant published something about plaintiff to more than 1 individual
- the thing that was published was untrue
- plaintiff suffered a loss of reputation
What happens if people actually spread the truth?
NO legal consequences
3 elements of negligence
- the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care
- the defendant breached that duty of care
- the breach of the duty of care caused harm or loss to the plaintiff
What is negligence all about?
looking out for other people, keeping an eye out for your neighbour
Who is a duty of care owed to?
is owed to anyone who could be reasonably foreseen to be injured by the acts or omissions of the defendant
What is a breach of duty?
defendant failed to exercise a reasonable standard of care
What is the breach causing loss?
as a result of the breach of the duty by the defendant, the plaintiff suffered some form of loss
Civil jurisdiction of county court
original - no minimum or maximum $ amount
appelleate - none
Civil jurisdiction of supreme court
original - no minimum or maximum $ amount
appellate - appeals from magistrate’s court
Civil jurisdiction of high court
original - very limited
appellate - appeals from the court of appeal
Civil jurisdiction of magistrates court
original - only claims up to $100,000
appellate - none
Civil jurisdiction of Court of Appeal
original - none
appellate - appeals from supreme court and county court
