AREA OF STUDY 1 – LAW IN SOCIETY

 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

 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

 WHAT ARE THE HOUSES OF THE COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENT CALLED? P  WHAT ARE THE HOUSES OF THE VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT CALLED? P. 31  WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS? P  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

The most important role is to make laws. P. 32 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

 HOW DO COURTS DECIDE WHAT A LAW MEANS? P. 49  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)

 WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A LAW? P. 11  Known  Understood  Accepted  Stable  Consistent  Enforced  Accessible

 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