HSC Legal Studies Question Thread

[jamonwindeyer]

hello everyone

could someone please explain to me the Wei Tang case for human trafficking and slavery? the textbook i use confuses me for what happened for her conviction and retrail.

thank you so much

Hey Kiiaaa! It's pretty common for textbooks to present cases with appeals in a confusing way. There's a great summary here (that site is gold btw). I used this case too! After jogging my memory with that site, what happened was:

- Victorian County Court found her guilty for the charges relating to slavery
- She appealed to the Victorian Court of Appeal which ordered a retrial
- The DPP then appealed to the High Court, and the original guilty verdict was the final outcome

Hope this helps

[kiiaaa]

Hey Kiiaaa! It's pretty common for textbooks to present cases with appeals in a confusing way. There's a great summary here (that site is gold btw). I used this case too! After jogging my memory with that site, what happened was:

- Victorian County Court found her guilty for the charges relating to slavery
- She appealed to the Victorian Court of Appeal which ordered a retrial
- The DPP then appealed to the High Court, and the original guilty verdict was the final outcome

Hope this helps

OMG IS THAT WHAT ALL THE BLABBER IN THE TEXTBOOK MEANT? i legit was pulling my hair for what as happening but that wasnt so complex as the textbook makes it seem.
thank you Jamon!

[kiiaaa]

Hi all

I was wondering if you could help me in teaching me how to cite newspaper articles for me please such as this?  http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/blackmail-extortion-and-slavery-at-a-restaurant-near-you-20170324-gv5usu
I have some articles which I have no clue how to cite or mention during my essays or extended responses and would like to know properly on how to address them and merge them in with my writing.
Hope that all makes sense
thank you so much! calling you guys 'amazing' would be a massive understatement

[jamonwindeyer]

Hi all

I was wondering if you could help me in teaching me how to cite newspaper articles for me please such as this?  http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/blackmail-extortion-and-slavery-at-a-restaurant-near-you-20170324-gv5usu
I have some articles which I have no clue how to cite or mention during my essays or extended responses and would like to know properly on how to address them and merge them in with my writing.
Hope that all makes sense
thank you so much! calling you guys 'amazing' would be a massive understatement

Hey! In honesty, I think the HSC is pretty lenient with the ways you do this. It very much depends what you are using from the article too! So for this article, you are probably using the story within the article itself. I'd do that like this:

Articles such as 'Blackmail, extortion and slavery at a restaurant near you' (Sydney Morning Herald, 2017) effectively raise public awareness of such issues by presenting specific case studies...

Often you want to pull a quote from an article, perhaps from someone in a prominent legal position. I'd do that a little differently:

Mr Important Person, the Important Person of NSW, highlights this issue as "INSERT A QUOTE" (Sydney Morning Herald, 2017)...

To me, the key is the source of the article and when it was published. The author isn't relevant (I certainly never included it), which seems strange for a citation! But it isn't super relevant to a HSC marker. The title is there when you need to refer to the article itself (EG - "This article shows this"), and the title of the article is really the only thing to call it

[maria1999]

Hi
How do I incorporate media files more sophisticatedly in my essays? Thank you!

[jamonwindeyer]

Hi
How do I incorporate media files more sophisticatedly in my essays? Thank you!

Hey maria! I like to use media articles to show public opinion of issues (ultimately, things being written about are important to the public at least to some degree). They may also contain useful quotes from legal personnel, politicians, or other useful bits. It is more effective to have a specific reason to introduce the article (to show an opinion, or reference a quote) rather than just using it as a lead in to a case. Lots of people say, "As is discussed in __________ article, the Thomas Kelly King hit case was a significant success in..." - That's not super effective, because you don't actually do anything with it. It's just there to check a box, so to speak

Instead, look for things IN the articles, such as quotes, that you can use in your responses to give it more credibility. Alternatively, find articles that represent societal thinking at the time. Then you say things like, "Media articles such as _______ emphasise the importance of this issue to the public at the time, demonstrating an ineffectiveness of the legislature in responding to a prevalent ethical issue."

Hope this helps

[maria1999]

Hey maria! I like to use media articles to show public opinion of issues (ultimately, things being written about are important to the public at least to some degree). They may also contain useful quotes from legal personnel, politicians, or other useful bits. It is more effective to have a specific reason to introduce the article (to show an opinion, or reference a quote) rather than just using it as a lead in to a case. Lots of people say, "As is discussed in __________ article, the Thomas Kelly King hit case was a significant success in..." - That's not super effective, because you don't actually do anything with it. It's just there to check a box, so to speak

Instead, look for things IN the articles, such as quotes, that you can use in your responses to give it more credibility. Alternatively, find articles that represent societal thinking at the time. Then you say things like, "Media articles such as _______ emphasise the importance of this issue to the public at the time, demonstrating an ineffectiveness of the legislature in responding to a prevalent ethical issue."

Hope this helps

Yes thats great, thank you so much!!

[Diala]

Hi there So I've currently got an essay for World Order about "Evaluating the effectiveness of Australia's federal government in responding to world order issues" and I'm struggling with how to structure it. I've been given a brief description about including general responses by Australia e.g the Constitution, states and international law, Australia's role in global affairs etc, and the UN intervention in East Timor. Would it make sense if I based my paragraphs on general responses (1 para on the Constitution with media articles, statistics... another on global affairs) and then used the case of East Timor as part of 'role in global affairs'? Or am I meant to be addressing more than just general responses?  Thank you!

[camillablome]

Hey Elyse!
I am currently writing a response to the 2016 essay question for World order and using the case studies of the civil war in Rwanda and the ongoing Libyan Crisis. I am just wondering if you think that they are good ones to use, or i should look at using more contemporary examples (especially in regards to Rwanda). Also, is two detailed case studies enough or should i use more?
Thankyou so much for your help!

[jamonwindeyer]

Hi there So I've currently got an essay for World Order about "Evaluating the effectiveness of Australia's federal government in responding to world order issues" and I'm struggling with how to structure it. I've been given a brief description about including general responses by Australia e.g the Constitution, states and international law, Australia's role in global affairs etc, and the UN intervention in East Timor. Would it make sense if I based my paragraphs on general responses (1 para on the Constitution with media articles, statistics... another on global affairs) and then used the case of East Timor as part of 'role in global affairs'? Or am I meant to be addressing more than just general responses?  Thank you!

Hey! I think having some paragraphs on responses, then some on specific case studies, seems a little off putting to me - It should be one or the other. So if you wanted to do responses, you would definitely do one response per paragraph, and put info on your case studies throughout these paragraphs. You would need to provide specific examples, you can't just describe what the response does Alternatively, you could do one case study per paragraph, and evaluate how Australia responded to each one in turn. I personally prefer this second approach for World Order most of the time, my HSC essay ended up doing it differently to suit the question. But it is a personal preference

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey Elyse!
I am currently writing a response to the 2016 essay question for World order and using the case studies of the civil war in Rwanda and the ongoing Libyan Crisis. I am just wondering if you think that they are good ones to use, or i should look at using more contemporary examples (especially in regards to Rwanda). Also, is two detailed case studies enough or should i use more?
Thankyou so much for your help!

Hey Camilla! Welcome to the forums so I think the Rwandan civil war is perhaps a tad outdated as a case study, but it definitely still works (it definitely has lots of great points for discussion).

In terms of the number of case studies, especially if you are doing one case study per paragraph, then having a third would be beneficial for you! One very recent case study to round out your trifecta would be a great idea in my opinion. North Korea and the associated sanctions/drama behind their actions recently would be a good pick - You could also perhaps spin some of the big political stories of 2016 (namely Brexit, and Russian involvement in the US Presidential Election). The current conflict in Syria (again, particularly the US/Russian clash in that sphere) would also be a fantastic choice

Hope this helps! Feel free to send more questions our way - Hope this site proves really useful for you

[tahliamag]

Guys whats the main difference between the ICCPR and the ICESCR??

[jamonwindeyer]

Guys whats the main difference between the ICCPR and the ICESCR??

Hey! They cover different categories of human rights - ICCPR is civil and political rights (freedom from arbitrary persecution, freedom of political expression, etc) and the ICESCR is economic, social and cultural rights - Education, health, shelter and the like ☺ doing a Google of what each contains would be a good idea to give you a better grasp!

[MisterNeo]

Guys whats the main difference between the ICCPR and the ICESCR??

Hi!! The two international covenants are fairly similar but do have their differences.
ICCPR
-Self determination
-Freedom from torture and slavery
-Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention
-Right to a fair trial, innocent until proven guilty, equality before the law
-Right to privacy
-Freedom of religion
-Banning political propaganda of war and hatred
-Right to vote

ICESCR
-Self determination
-Freedom from discrimination based on sex, religion, race, political status, etc.
-Work rights: Favourable conditions, parental leave, OH&S, good work times, wages, social security, etc.
-Right to free primary education and ability to access higher education
-Right to adequate standard of living

Signatories of the two covenants are also different as nations like China and the US have signed one but not the other.

Hope this helps!! Basically ICCPR are "freedom from's", whereas the ICESCR are "right to's"

[jamonwindeyer]

Hope this helps!! Basically ICCPR are "freedom from's", whereas the ICESCR are "right to's"

What a great way to remember it! Cheers for a great answer Neo