Unit 4 - Area of Study 1 - The Constitution and Law Making

Question 1

a process whereby the courts give meaning to the words in legislation when applying the legislation to a case.

Answer 1

Statutory Interpretation

Question 2

a principle established by the Australian Constitution that ensures the legislative, executive, and judicial powers remain separate.

Answer 2

Separation of powers

Question 3

the upper house of the Commonwealth Parliament, which is comprised of 76 senators who represent the six states and two territories across Australia.

Answer 3

Senate

Question 4

a right to be tried by unbiased members of the community who have been randomly selected from the electoral roll.

Answer 4

Right to trial by jury

Question 5

the body of law that comprises laws made by parliament, also known as legislation.

Answer 5

Statute law

Question 6

the requirement that, in order to bring a case to court, an individual or group must be affected by, or have a special interest in, the issues involved in the case.

Answer 6

Standing

Question 7

an act whereby a superior court changes a precedent set by a lower court in the hierarchy in the same case on appeal.

Answer 7

Reversing a precedent

Question 8

law-making powers that are not granted to the Commonwealth Parliament in the Australian Constitution and therefore belong to the state parliaments.

Answer 8

Residual powers

Question 9

a system in which members of parliament are elected by the people of a community or nation to best represent the needs and views of those people.

Answer 9

Representative government

Question 10

a legal principle or decision established by a court in a previous case that is used as a guide or authority in subsequent cases with similar facts or legal issues.

Answer 10

Precedent

Question 11

legal reasoning that can act as a guide for judges even though they are not bound to follow it.

Answer 11

Persuasive precedent

Question 12

the legal concept that parliament has the freedom to make, amend, or abolish laws, subject to limitations outlined in the Australian Constitution, and is supreme over other arms of government, such as the executive and the judiciary.

Answer 12

Supremacy of Parliament

Question 13

the power vested in parliament that enables it to make laws.

Answer 13

Legislative power

Question 14

the upper house of the Victorian Parliament which is comprised of 40 members of parliament who represent eight regions across Victoria.

Answer 14

Legislative Council

Question 15

the lower house of the Victorian Parliament, which is comprised of 88 members of parliament representing the electoral districts across Victoria.

Answer 15

Legislative Assembly

Question 16

the power vested in courts and tribunals that enables them to enforce laws and resolve legal matters.

Answer 16

Judicial power

Question 17

a judicial approach where a judge is reluctant to develop new law as they feel it is the role of parliament, as the elected representative body, to do so.

Answer 17

Judicial conservatism

Question 18

a judicial approach where a judge takes into account numerous social and political factors when interpreting the law and deciding cases.

Answer 18

Judicial activism

Question 19

an act whereby a superior court changes a previous decision made by a lower court, when ruling on a different case.

Answer 19

Overruling a precedent

Question 20

the influence that other countries and international organisations exert on parliaments to ensure the laws created comply with international standards.

Answer 20

International Pressures

Question 21

the power, vested in the King and exercised by the Governor-General, to maintain and administer the law and the business of government.

Answer 21

Executive Power

Question 22

Law-making powers granted only to the Commonwealth Parliament by s 51 and s 52 of the Australian Constitution.

Answer 22

Exclusive powers

Question 23

the lower house of the Commonwealth Parliament, which is comprised of 151 members of parliament representing the electorates across Australia.

Answer 23

House of Representatives

Question 24

the most superior court in Australia that hears matters of federal significance and appeals from federal, state, and territory courts.

Answer 24

High Court of Australia

Question 25

a rule in which judges must follow the reasons for decisions given by superior courts in the same court hierarchy when deciding a case before them with similar facts.

Answer 25

Doctrine of Precedent

Question 26

The constitutional division of law-making powers between the Commonwealth and state parliaments.

Answer 26

Division of powers

Question 27

an act whereby a lower court avoids applying a precedent by demonstrating that the case before it has different material facts to the case in which the precedent was established.

Answer 27

Distinguishing a precedent

Question 28

an act whereby a lower court expresses its disapproval of a precedent established by a higher court through its written judgment, but is still bound to follow it.

Answer 28

Disapproving a precedent

Question 29

the representative of the monarch in the Commonwealth Parliament.

Answer 29

Governor-General

Question 30

the representative of the monarch in each of the six Australian states.

Answer 30

Governor

Question 31

the five human rights that are explicitly stated and entrenched in the Australian Constitution.

Answer 31

Express Rights

Question 32

legal reasoning of a higher court that must be followed by all lower courts in the same court hierarchy where the material facts are similar.

Answer 32

Binding precedent

Question 33

a law-making body with two houses or chambers that must approve of new bills or amendments to laws.

Answer 33

Bicameral Parliament

Question 34

law-making powers granted to both the Commonwealth and state parliaments.

Answer 34

Concurrent Powers

Question 35

the body of law that is derived from judicial reasoning and decisions in past cases.

Answer 35

Common Law

Question 36

the founding document of Australia that sets out the composition of the Australian Parliament, its function and layout, and its powers.

Answer 36

Australian Constitution

Question 37

the process of parliament confirming common law precedent by enacting legislation to give effect to the legal principles.

Answer 37

Codification

Question 38

the process of parliament overruling common law by creating a statute contrary to a decision of the courts.

Answer 38

Abrogation

Question 39

Sets out how the Senate and House of Representatives is to operate. These sections also establish the principle of representative government in that it is a clearly stated that both houses must be chosen by the people.

Answer 39

Section 7 and Section 24 of the Constitution

Question 40

‘When a law of the State is inconstant with a law of the Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid.’

Answer 40

Section 109 of the Australian Constitution