HSC Legal Studies Question Thread

[sidzeman]

Essentially, state sovereignty means that no nation state is ever fully obligated to adhere to international standards. Meaning, they can ignore UN sanctions if they so choose. Everyone needs to cooperate for anything to work

Check this case from 2009, could be helpful!

Thank you so much! Could you also explain what statutory authorities are and their role in upholding human rights?

[chelseam]

Hey guys! Does anyone know what the impacts of being successful in using a partial defence are, compared to a full defence? Thank you

[pokemonlv10]

Hey guys! Does anyone know what the impacts of being successful in using a partial defence are, compared to a full defence? Thank you

Full Defence -> Full acquittal. Applies to Mental illness, necessity and self-defence.

Partial -> Charge reduced to manslaughter. Arises from provocation or diminished responsibility

[pokemonlv10]

Hey guys for the last question, why is a property offence?

[Vinnnnnnyyyyyy]

Hey guys for the last question, why is a property offence?

You can do process of elimination for this. It's not a driving offence because, well obviously there is a larger crime at hand and the question doesn't specify anything about speeding (it would be extremely weird). It's not a public order offence because those tend to be less serious and are when people disturb the public. And it's not white collar because those tend to be shady businessmen doing shady stuff This leaves property crime which happens to include pretty much any form of stealing.

[rodero]

Hey guys for the last question, why is a property offence?

A property offence is one of the sub-categories to economic offences. It includes:
Larceny:Property is taken from a person without the intention of it being returned
Robbery: This is similar to larceny, however the act is a lot more direct. Think of robbery like a bank heist; the person confronts people in order to steal the item. Whereas for larceny, it is a lot more discrete. This can involve things like pick-pocketing or shoplifting, where the victim does not realise the item has been stolen from there
Breaking and Entering: This is the offence that relates to the stimulus provided. It means that you entered someone elses property with the intention to commit a crime. You can see this as the first sentence states "Alex and Dale planned to rob a bank"

[yopenelope]

I was just wondering how to tackle the 'role' in questions, particularly in crime - e.g. the role of discretion, the role of law reform. Each essay I've done this year I'll have a mark taken off because I didn't focus on the 'role' as much as they wanted, but I don't really know what that means?

[paigek3]

I was just wondering how to tackle the 'role' in questions, particularly in crime - e.g. the role of discretion, the role of law reform. Each essay I've done this year I'll have a mark taken off because I didn't focus on the 'role' as much as they wanted, but I don't really know what that means?

Well when I think that focusing on the role of those topics would mean their purpose, so for instance the purpose or ‘role’ of law reform is to keep up with the needs of society. So if you introduce that idea in your intro and keep linking back to it in your bodies, and conclusion, you should be covering that well enough

If you did write that, this could possibly be a case of teacher’s marking you harshly to ensure you’re not too comfortable before hsc comes

EDIT: Speaking of discretion, what would be a good essay plan for a question regarding the role of discretion in the cjs?

[phebsh]

Hi all! Firstly, good luck to us all for tomorrow!

I'm just not sure of what to do with my time today, I feel like doing papers will stress me out so what's a good idea?

Thanks!

[Vinnnnnnyyyyyy]

Well when I think that focusing on the role of those topics would mean their purpose, so for instance the purpose or ‘role’ of law reform is to keep up with the needs of society. So if you introduce that idea in your intro and keep linking back to it in your bodies, and conclusion, you should be covering that well enough

If you did write that, this could possibly be a case of teacher’s marking you harshly to ensure you’re not too comfortable before hsc comes

EDIT: Speaking of discretion, what would be a good essay plan for a question regarding the role of discretion in the cjs?

I had a discretion question in my trials but it was focused on sentencing and punishment. I wrote about how a judge's discretion ultimately results in whether or not the accused is convicted. I narrowed it down to statutory and judicial guidelines (mandatory sentencing REMOVES the ability of a judge to have discretion while precedents indicates what the recommended sentence would be and lets the judge mold their decisions based on the past decisions), types of penalties (the judge chooses the penalty based on aggravating and mitigating factors) and victim impact statements (judges are only obliged to consider them and it should not form a bias).

For other parts that are not pertaining to sentencing and punishment, I guess you could talk about police discretion; how they can choose to give a warning, etc. Would appreciate if others could add onto this!

[~BK~]

Hi all! Firstly, good luck to us all for tomorrow!

I'm just not sure of what to do with my time today, I feel like doing papers will stress me out so what's a good idea?

Thanks!

i'm kinda thinking the same way!! 
maybe just brush up on all your legislation, cases, media articles, treaties etc. so that you know them really well!!
all the very best for tomorrow!
who else's last exam is legal and CAN NOT wait!? 

[elysepopplewell]

Hi all! Firstly, good luck to us all for tomorrow!

I'm just not sure of what to do with my time today, I feel like doing papers will stress me out so what's a good idea?

Thanks!

If there's any part of the syllabus that freaks you out a lot, I honestly, personally, recommend using today to tackle that face on. It was on the morning OF my exam that I tackled transnational crime - and it was my crime essay. Ghee whiz. So I really think that early today, get a wriggle on with something that challenges you, and then you can spend the afternoon affirming yourself of what you know, committing a few little extra things to memory, and so on.

Maybe not doing full past papers if they panic you - but instead maybe just multiple choice? Or just look at short answers and honestly ask yourself: "Can I answer this?" and if not, just do a dot point version to test yourself on what you do know.

good luck

[rodero]

Well when I think that focusing on the role of those topics would mean their purpose, so for instance the purpose or ‘role’ of law reform is to keep up with the needs of society. So if you introduce that idea in your intro and keep linking back to it in your bodies, and conclusion, you should be covering that well enough

If you did write that, this could possibly be a case of teacher’s marking you harshly to ensure you’re not too comfortable before hsc comes

EDIT: Speaking of discretion, what would be a good essay plan for a question regarding the role of discretion in the cjs?

Police discretion: misuse of police powers under LEPRA, evident in the Roberto Curti taser incident, as well as Corey Barker's unlawful arrest. You can substantiate the paragraph with the subsequent media blacklash. This mainly shows how police discretion is being exploited and is not delivering justice for the accused. You can show nuance through R v Gittany, where police discretion was used to gather evidence efficiently and gain a conviction

Judicial discretion in factors affecting a sentence: the role of discretion here is to provide judges with a means of adapting to the unique features of each case. In the case of R v Milat and Klein, the judge disregarded their mitigating factors as the offence was too severe. Whereas, in R v Bayley the offender DID consider these mitigating factors, resulting in a lesser sentence. This effectively allowed the judge to prioritise rehabilitation

Judicial discretion in penalties: R v GDP, sentence is changed from a 12 month control order to a 12 month probation to encourage rehab. R v McCartney, judge prioritises deterrence, so imposes a higher sentence for sexual assault

Mandatory sentences: The introduction of recent mandatory sentences has hindered the role of judicial discretion. Crimes (Murder of Police Officer) Act enforced a mandatory life sentence for killing a police officer. This means that discretion can no longer be applied as each convicted offender will always be given a life sentence, regardless of any mitigating factors.

[littleshreep]

Well when I think that focusing on the role of those topics would mean their purpose, so for instance the purpose or ‘role’ of law reform is to keep up with the needs of society. So if you introduce that idea in your intro and keep linking back to it in your bodies, and conclusion, you should be covering that well enough

If you did write that, this could possibly be a case of teacher’s marking you harshly to ensure you’re not too comfortable before hsc comes

EDIT: Speaking of discretion, what would be a good essay plan for a question regarding the role of discretion in the cjs?

For an essay on the role of discretion in the cjs, the easiest way and most effective way to go in terms of getting a broad discussion would be to have a paragraph on the CIP, CTP and S&P.
And then within each paragraph, for example the CIP you could talk about points such as:
- police powers (their application of discretion)
- reporting of crime --> main role in this is that of the public, whose only 'power' is discretion (choosing whether or not to report a crime). This becomes an issue though with under-reporting on certain types of crimes (sexual assault, domestic violence) because of assumptions that reporting won't lead to arrest/conviction (NSW Bureau of Crime Stats and Research [2006] - 90% of reported sexual assaults resulted in no conviction) and so up to 85% of sexual assaults in Australia are not reported. Organisations such as Crime Stoppers however encourage public reporting of crime ... so I suppose you could find some stats on the reporting of crime through that method as a way of fixing the ineffectiveness of the role of discretion in reporting of crime.
- gathering evidence --> essentially all up to the police and their use of their powers, so discretion inevitable becomes a factor (whether it is effective or ineffective). So for this section you could talk about R v Wood (demonstrated ineffective use of police discretion in gathering evidence, leading to unfair trial)
- use of technology --> again, major involvement of police and their use of their powers. So one interesting thing I came across was police hacking powers (provided through their capability for covert searches). This type of power is obviously super controversial because it impedges on key human rights such as the right to privacy etc. Thus police discretion is super important -- but it's limited by the fact that only a specific officer can get a warrant from a specific eligible judge for this power, and even with that their application needs to demonstrate suspicion or belief on reasonable grounds that a terrorist act has been/is likely to be commited, that searching a premises (or whatever else) will likely prevent this and that it's necessary that the search has to be conducted without the occupier's knowledge. Also, after 10 days of the search the office has to report back to the judge and essentially detail EVERYTHING. So its good that certain meausures have been put in place for powers like this where discretion is obviously going to affect how the power will be used (usually a bad effect), and so discretion is limited for effectiveness.
- use of warrants: as mentioned above, limit police discretion but result in judicial discretion
- DVEC (used in domestic violence investigations) --> limits the discretion of victims/witnesses as police can digitally record victims statement in situ so that justice can be achieved in the trial wherein the victim may not be willing to provide correct information.
- bail: judicial discretion, but the reforms in Bail Act limit judicial discretion (I may be wrong, you might have to check over this). Restrictions have also been placed in granting bail for offences such as drug trafficking/domestic violence and even limit the chance of suspected terrorists of getting bail (Terrorism Act amendment 2017).

So these are some things specific for the CIP, but you would continue for the other sections of the CJS, according to the syllabus (because it honestly makes it so much easier to just pack in information into your paragraphs imo).
Hope this helps
(also sorry if I've just repeated what other people have already posted, this took forever to write up )

[elysepopplewell]

For an essay on the role of discretion in the cjs, the easiest way and most effective way to go in terms of getting a broad discussion would be to have a paragraph on the CIP, CTP and S&P.

So these are some things specific for the CIP, but you would continue for the other sections of the CJS, according to the syllabus (because it honestly makes it so much easier to just pack in information into your paragraphs imo).
Hope this helps
(also sorry if I've just repeated what other people have already posted, this took forever to write up )

Thank you for your time and effort here! Very, very much appreciated!