Unit 1 Flashcards
Legal rule
laws are legal rules that are made by parliament or a subordinate body and are enforced but the community thought the legal system often in courts and are applied to all members of the society
non-legal rules
rules made bu and only affect people in family’s, schools clubs and other organisations
Explain the four functions of law.
- establish a code of conduct
- protect society from harm
- laws reflect people’s changing values and circumstances
- laws resolves disputes through courts and tribunals
Explain the characteristics of an effective law.
- know and understood by the public
- acceptable to the community and reflect values
- able to be changes
- stable and consistent
- enforceable
Explain the difference between civil and criminal law.
Civil: is an area of law covering infringement of a persons rights and aims to restore the affected person to their original position or compensate for their loss
Criminal: is the ares of law concerned with behavior that is against an existing law and is harmful to society and therefor requires the imposition of a sanction
parties involved:
DPP vs accused
plaintiff vs defendant
standard and burden of proof: beyond reasonable doubt with the prosecution , balance of probability plaintiff
Outline the structure of the Commonwealth Parliament
queen’s rep - GG
upper house - the senate
lower house - the house of reps
Outline the structure of the Victorian Parliament.
queen’s rep - governor
upper house - legislative council
lower house - legislative assembly
Define bicameral
a Parliament made up of two houses and the crown’s rep
Define Government
is the political party that wins a majority of the members in the lower house
Define Cabinet
senior member of parliament who make the choices and hold a specific area of responsibility called a portfolio member of the cabinet are referred to as ministers
Define Legislation
a law made by parliament also know as statutes or acts of Parliament
Define Bill
a proposed law
Outline the process for passing legislation. (Use a step process)
Ensure you know three steps in this process.
- The first reading is the introduction of the bill into parliament. Here the bill is distributed to all members of parliament tin the house and the reason for the bill ( ie its general purpose )
- Second reading: the minister who introduced the bill outlines the general principles of the bill.
- Consideration in detail: at this stage each clause (part) of the bill is discussed in detail.
- Third reading; the bill is discussed and voted upon and if passed, ie agreed to by the majority of Members of parliament
- The Bill passes the first house
- . Same procedure in the other House
• First reading
• Second reading
• Committee of the whole house
• Third Reading
if passed
- Royal Assent; this is when the Queens representative the Governor – General in the Commonwealth Parliament or the Governor in the state parliament)
- . The Proclamation is when the bill has been signed by the Queen’s representative and a date is set for the law to come into operation.
Define the term crime.
A crime is an unlawful act or omission for which the state imposes a penalty.
Mens rea
guilty mind
actus reus
guilty act
The Burden of proof
refers to the role of proving a case in court in criminal case this role belongs to the prosecution
The presumption of innocence
refers to a legal concept of being regarded innocent until proven guilty by the court
The standard of proof
beyond reasonable doubt
The Age of criminal responsibility
10 years old
difference between Murder and manslaughter
Murder: occurs when death is caused with intent (malice aforethought) Manslaughter:
This is when the death of a person occurs when there was no intention to kill but there was
i. intention to harm
ii. The accused actions fall below the expected standard of care
iii. The accused actions were unlawful
difference between Child Homicide and Infanticide
Child Homicide: where a person kills a child who is under the age of 6 in circumstances that would normally be manslaughter
infanticide: a woman killed her child (under 2) as a result of a mental disturbance eg postnatal depression
difference between Assault and attempted murder
Attempted Murder
- is when a person attempts to kill the victim but the victim does not die..
Assault: threating to commit or committing some form of physical harm. It is the direct application of force
To constitute assault an action must be
i. unlawful
ii. intentional or reckless
iii. It must cause injury, pain, discomfort, insult or the depravation of liberty
What is defensive homicide
crime of murder the defended did what they thought necessary to defend themselves / other courts find it unreasonable (excessively use of force)
List and explain four defences to murder
self defense
defense homicide
automatism
infanticide
List and explain four defences to assault
Duress
menta; impairment
lawful use of force eg police
necessity - prevent greater harm
Explain the difference theft and burglary.
theft -taking another persons property with the intention of keeping it
burglary- is unlawfully entering a property to steal or commit an offence
Robbery
occurs when force is used to threaten a person when stealing
Define arrest
to take a suspect into custody
define warrant
a written order from the magistrate directing the police to search a persons premise seize a persons goods or arrest them
