Law Unit One A

Question 1

What are legal rules?

Answer 1

Apply to all members of society and are known as laws.

Laws regulate society’s behaviour and guide the rights and responsibilities of each member of society.
They help to ensure that the rights of others are not infringed.

Parliaments and courts make laws.
Laws can be criminal or civil.

Question 2

What are examples of legal rules?

Answer 2

Road rules, going to school

Question 3

What are non legal rules?

Answer 3

Set by bodies and organisations outside of parliament and law making.
Examples are at home, school, sporting club.

Set by each organisation.
An example is each family has different rules that work for their house.

There are also different punishments for breaking the rules.

Question 4

What are examples of non legal rules?

Answer 4

School rules
Apply to all members of the school.
Designed to establish acceptable behaviours.
An example is no eating in the classroom.

Rules in football
Apply to all members of the football team.
Designed to establish the dos and don’ts of the game.
An example is kicking the ball between the goalposts without it touching another player will result in 6 points being awarded.

Question 5

What is social cohesion?

Answer 5

Social cohesion is the ability of a society to live together in peace, order and harmony, by recognising that all people have rights and responsibilities.

Question 6

What are the five characteristics of a law?

Answer 6

Known, Clear and understandable, Reflect society’s values, Stable and Enforceable.

Question 7

Define Known

Answer 7

The public must know about it.
If people do not know about the new law, they will not be able to follow it.

It is the responsibility of individuals to find out what the law is on any particular matter.
If someone breaks a law, saying ‘I didn’t know it was breaking the law’ is not an acceptable answer. This principle is
commonly expressed as ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse’.

However, law-makers also need to keep the public informed of any new laws that are passed.
Major changes in the law, or new laws, are usually reported in the media, and many are debated in the media and in society before they are introduced.

Question 8

Define Clear and understandable

Answer 8

It is important for a law to be written in a way that means that people can understand it, and it is clear what its intent is.

If a law is ambiguous, unclear, or written in language or in jargon that people don’t understand, it is possible that people won’t follow it.

Question 9

Define Reflects society’s values

Answer 9

If a law is in line with society’s current values, then members of society are more inclined to follow that law than disregard it.

This means laws need to change when society’s values change.

Question 10

Define Stable

Answer 10

If the law were constantly changing, no one would be certain of what the law was, and it may not be as effective as a law that has remained constant for some time.

Question 11

Define Enforcable

Answer 11

If people break a law, it must be possible to catch and punish them, or sue them in a civil case.

If this is not possible, people may be less inclined to follow the law.

Question 12

What are the sources of law?

Answer 12

Parliament and courts.

Question 13

What are the types of law?

Answer 13

Criminal and civil.

Question 14

Laws made by parliament is known as:

Answer 14

A statute law, an act of parliament or a legislation.

Question 15

State three areas where the federal government can make laws

Answer 15

Immigration, Money, Defence.

Question 16

State three areas where the state/territory government can make laws

Answer 16

Hospitals, Schools, Public transport.

Question 17

State three areas where the local government can make laws

Answer 17

Rubbish collection, Pet control, Parking.

Question 18

Describe the stages of a bill through parliament to become a law

Answer 18

First reading
The bill (a law before it’s passed) is introduced to the house by the minister responsible for that area of law.

Second reading
The bill is explained (by the minister), debated and then voted on.

Consideration in detail
If needed, the bill is considered in detail, and debated further.

Third reading
The bill will then be voted on and passed by the first house.

Repeat in second house
The steps above are repeated in the second house. (There are two houses of parliament [House of representatives and Senate], and a bill must always pass through both).

Royal assent
The governor or governor-general approves the bill before it becomes a law.

The bill becomes an Act of Parliament (ie law).

Question 19

Laws created by the courts is known as:

Answer 19

Common and case.

Question 20

Define precedent

Answer 20

When the court makes a decision that is the first of its kind.
It must be followed by all other lower courts when similar issues arise.
It is recorded and referred back to in similar future cases.
It is designed to create consistency and predictability.

Question 21

Describe a case which is an example of precedent

Answer 21

Snail in a bottle
Donoghue went to a cafe where she was given a ginger beer.
It was bought by a friend and poured into a glass for her.
After Donoghue had drunk half the contents of the bottle, a decomposed snail was poured out into her glass.
The snail could not be seen before the ginger beer had been consumed.

Donoghue became ill as a result and later suffered from severe gastroenteritis.
Donoghue did not have a contract with the cafe or the manufacturer because she did not buy the bottle of ginger beer herself.
This meant she could not sue for breach of contract.

Instead, Donoghue claimed the manufacturer of the ginger beer, David Stevenson, had been negligent in the washing of the bottles before filling them with ginger beer.
She sued Stevenson, alleging he had failed in two ways:
It was the duty of the manufacturer to provide a system which would stop snails from getting into his ginger beer bottles.
It was the duty of the manufacturer to inspect the bottles before filling them with ginger beer and selling them to customers.

Initial case failed, but was granted leave to appeal to the House of Lords, where it was found that the manufacturer had been negligent.
The bottle was opaque, so Donoghue did not have the opportunity to check the bottle’s contents before drinking it.
The Court ruled that Stevenson failed to take reasonable care in supplying a product as he knew there was no reasonable opportunity for the distributor, retailer or consumer to inspect the goods before consumption.

Question 22

What is the neighbour principle?

Answer 22

The common law rule that a person must take reasonable care to avoid acts and omissions that can reasonably be foreseen as likely to injure their ‘neighbour’ (people closely and directly affected by their acts or omissions).

Question 23

Define statutory interpretation

Answer 23

When words in an Act of Parliament are unclear, the judge will decide what these words mean. This decision will also be precedent for similar future cases.

Question 24

Describe a case which is an example of statutory interpretation

Answer 24

The studded belt case
A man aged 20 pleaded not guilty to possessing a regulated weapon under the Control of Weapons Act 1990.
The weapon in this case was alleged to be a black leather belt with raised silver studs, which he used to hold up his trousers.

The magistrate found him guilty of the charge.
The accused appealed against the finding of guilt and the confiscation of his belt.
The Supreme Court, hearing the appeal, had to decide what a regulated weapon was, in the context of the Act and the regulations made under the Act, to determine whether a studded belt used to hold up trousers was in fact a regulated weapon.
A list of regulated weapons which included: any article fitted with raised pointed studs which is designed to be worn as an article of clothing.
Justice Beach decided that the studded belt wasn’t a regulated weapon, as a regulated weapon should be defined as ‘anything that is not in common use for any other purpose but that of a weapon.’

The decision of the Magistrates’ Court was quashed and the confiscated belt was returned, because the accused wasn’t considered to be carrying a regulated weapon.
The definition of a regulated weapon has now been removed from the Act.