AREA OF STUDY 1 – LAW IN SOCIETY

REVISION LECTURE

A Similarity between a legal rule and a non-legal rule is:

A. Both are enforced through the courts

B. Both apply to all individuals and groups in society

C. Both are made by a law-making body

D. Both have a consequence if broken

REVIEW

WHAT ARE THE 4 MAIN SOURCES OF LAW? P. 26

Parliament (Acts, Statutes, Legislation)

Delegated authorities/bodies Courts (case law, common law,

judge-made law) Traditional/Indigenous laws and

customs

MAIN SOURCES OF LAW

WHAT ARE THE HOUSES OF THE COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENT CALLED?

WHAT ARE THE HOUSES OF THE VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT CALLED?

WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS?

Initiation and first reading in the Lower House

Second reading Consideration in detail/Committee

of the Whole Third reading Repeated in the Upper House If passed, goes to the Governor or

Governor General for Royal Assent Becomes law

STRUCTURE OF PARLIAMENT

ROLE & KEY FUNCTIONS OF

PARLIAMENT

• The most important role is to make laws.

• Parliament also:• Manages finances

(taxes)• Monitors delegated

legislation• Discusses and

debates issues• Investigates issues

related to government

Parliament has the power to make, change and cancel laws.

What are the advantages of Parliamentary law-making? What are the disadvantages? P. 50

Parliament may give some of its law-making powers to a subordinate body.

Delegated legislation can be made by statutory authorities, government departments, the Executive Council and local municipal councils.

What are the advantages of delegated law-making? What are the disadvantages? P. 45

DELEGATED LAW-MAKING

& PARLIAMENTARY

LAW-MAKING

HOW DO COURTS DECIDE WHAT A LAW MEANS?

Interpretation Acts (Purpose/Object of the Act, Hansard, minutes, reports, inquiries, law reform bodies, dictionaries and recognised legal texts)

Legal maxims (e.g. ejusdem generis)

Precedents (legal principles from previous similar cases decided by the higher courts)

STATUTORY INTERPRETATION

WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A LAW?

Known Understood Accepted Stable Consistent Enforced Accessible

EFFECTIVENESS OF LAWS

BILL is a draft law STATUTORY INTERPRETATION is the

process by which courts decide what a law means and how to apply it in a particular situation

PRECEDENT is a legal principle developed by higher courts which are then generally followed by lower courts in similar cases

LEGISLATIVE PROCESS describes the steps involved in turning a bill into a piece of legislation (through Parliament)

DELEGATED LEGISLATION is a law made by a body (not Parliament) which Parliament has given some of its law-making power to

STATUTES, ACTS, LEGISLATION = laws

DEFINE & USE KEY LEGAL TERMS