Unit 3 OAS 1 Flashcards
Representative Government
Rep. Govt. should reflect the views of majority.
Make laws that reflect the people
Representatives chosen by the people to represent the people
Regular elections- Govt. remains representative even through changes in society
If Govt. doesn’t reflect views may be voted out.
Responsible Government
Responsible to the parliament and therefore the people
Do the right thing for the people→ must act fairly and responsibly.
Ministers accountable for department and must act with integrity and propriety. If there is abuse or misuse of power it is expected that they resign (doctrine of ministerial responsibility)
Question time, debates and parliamentary committees
If govt. Loses support of lower house must resign.
SOP
‘Doctrine of the separation powers’ states that the three different types of power held by the commonwealth must be exercised by different bodies and kept separate so that no one body has absolute power.
Upper (commonwealth)
Senate:
→ Safeguard interests of smaller states by having equal numbers. This means each state is equally represented and involved in the law making process
→ Senate is a house of review. This means senate is able to reject or amend legislations to ensure that new bill’s aren’t too radical and don’t upset existing social order.
→ Initiation of bills except concerning money
Lower (commonwealth)
HOR’s
→ Introduces and debates on new bills
→ Each member represents an electorate which means they can introduce bills that represents views and values.
Upper (State)
Legislative Council:
→ it’s role is to review legislations that comes from the lower house. This second step allows the legislation to be examined in detail and any existing issues are able to be fixed through its thorough process.
→ the upper house has the ability to reject other bills, delay the passage of a bill or return a bill to the lower house with suggested amendments.
Lower (state)
Legislative Assembly:
→ Most legislation originates in the lower house and the role of the legislative assembly is to represent society’s views which involves but debating and discussing on new legislation that is beneficial to the community
Reasons why laws need to change
Changing Values and attitudes in the community:
The law should reflect social, moral, economic and political values of society
Therefore laws should also be changed so that thye continue to be relevant and accepted by society
Eg. - Statues of women
Environmental laws
Marital Status
Technological Advances:
Changes in technology necessitate constant changes in the law as new areas of law or offences develop
Often need to regulate actions of individuals or groups to protect rights of others.
Eg. - Privacy Laws
Piracy
IVF
Changes in society:
The way in which our society functions is continually changing, and laws need to keep pace with this.
New methods of production and new products are continually being developed; have resulted in changes to consumer protection and trade practice laws.
Protection of Community:
One of the roles of a legal system is to protect the community from harm. Hence, if a new harm becomes evident or existing harm intensifies the law will need to be changed to overcome this threat.
Eg. - Secondhand smoke.
Role of VLRC
Role is to develop, monitor and coordinate law reform in Victoria.
Main role is to review areas of law referred to them by the attorney general and make recommendations for reform.
VLRC powers
→ To make law reform recommendations on matters referred to it by Attorney- General
→ To make recommendations on minor legal issues of general community concern
→ To suggest to the Attorney- General that they refer a law reform to the commission
→ To monitor and coordinate law reform activity in Victoria
→ Educate the community on areas of law relevant to the commission’s law.
VLRC (referals)
An area of law referred to the VLRC is called a ‘reference’
This is accompanied by terms of reference that specify what to look at, the scope of the review, and a date by which the Commission needs to report back to the government
References usually fall into two categories: social justice issues, and issues about the way the legal system works
VLRC community involvement
VLRC consult with the community by:
Asking questions of the community
Inviting written submissions from the public and other organisations
Undertaking consultations through discussion groups and forums
Publishing draft reports for public comment
→ This enables the VLRC to be in touch with community values and to reflect these in the recommendations they make.
