Tutorial 2: Australian Legal System

In class test (first 20 minutes)
Material comes from the first 2 lectures and associated readings.

What you need to do to prepare for this tutorial

Review the Session 1 and 2 lecture material and read - Latimer Chapter 1

Learning outcomes

This topic will start your learning and understanding of the Australian Legal System

Key concepts

1. Court Hierarchy
2. State and Federal Courts
3. Statute Law
4. Case Law and Precedent
5. Ratio decidendi and obiter dicta
6. Delegated Legislation
7. Statutory interpretation

To undertake study for this topic, you will need:

Essential textbook

Latimer Chapter 1
A good quality Australian Dictionary would be a useful tool to prepare for this tutorial.

Tutorial 2 Questions
1. Using s.128 of the Australian Constitution briefly outline the mode of altering the Constitution itself.

2. Assume that there is a statute in force in Western Australia that simply states:

"Every motorist must use a crash helmet whilst travelling on any Western Australian road. The penalty for not complying with the law is $500."

At the time the law was being passed in Parliament the Minister for Transport and Road emphasised that it was in the interest of motorcyclist that such a law was being passed, as there was a very high incidence of head injuries amongst motorcyclists involved in road accidents.

a) The police stop Elvis, a new kid on the block, whilst travelling to school on his motorbike. He has a crash