How to Get a Band 6 in Legal Studies (by a State Ranker)

[conic curve]

Working on it, stay tuned!! 

Thanks for the hard work in doing so 

By the time you of had already made prelim legal notes, I wouldn't need to make my own 

[victoriad98]

this really helped! 

[tahmina]

how would you structure an 'effectiveness of the criminal justice system' essay response.. i need immediate help please

[jamonwindeyer]

how would you structure an 'effectiveness of the criminal justice system' essay response.. i need immediate help please

Hey Tahmina! There are many ways you could structure an essay like this in terms of paragraph topics. You could do it in terms of legal responses (paragraph on laws, paragraph on courts, paragraph on other legal responses, etc.), in terms of specific issues (young offenders, partial defences, etc.).

The other thing you could do is set up the response to deal with the rights of victims, offenders and society (balancing these rights is what justice is all about, after all). If you did it this way, you could do one paragraph on protecting the rights of offenders, one on protecting rights of victims, and one on protecting the interests of society

I played with all three of these structures in my HSC, and while the last is my favourite, it's also probably the most difficult to get right have a go with all three and pick whichever suits you well!! 

[tahmina]

thank you your a big help !!!

[Lauradf36]

What's the best way you found to study for the essays? I found studying before my trials for long 25 mark essays was a bit tricky - I knew my content, but dividing it into paragraphs and having enough paragraphs ready for a question on any dotpoint - that was a different matter!

[jamonwindeyer]

What's the best way you found to study for the essays? I found studying before my trials for long 25 mark essays was a bit tricky - I knew my content, but dividing it into paragraphs and having enough paragraphs ready for a question on any dotpoint - that was a different matter!

Hey! Practice makes perfect, but obviously you need to know your stuff to write your paragraphs in the first place!

I made a whole lot of summary sheets like these that crammed all my cases, laws, evidence and other juicy goodness into really succinct pages. These were easy to study, and I memorised them in various ways. Most exciting of all, palm cards and group study, least exciting of all, just sitting there reading them aloud... The least exciting method worked the best but I could never do it for long without getting bored, so I mixed it up

Beyond that, check out this article I wrote on some creative ways to study for Legal, it might break up the tediousness of summary sheets and practice

[scyouknow13]

Did you do LCMT for every sub topic like 'Investigation process, Trial process' or did you do it per topic like 'Crime, Young Offenders'?

[jamonwindeyer]

Did you do LCMT for every sub topic like 'Investigation process, Trial process' or did you do it per topic like 'Crime, Young Offenders'?

Hey! Every sub-topic, but some will be difficult. For example, cases for the 'Investigation Process' are not really a thing, you'll use more media articles in that section than actual cases that have proceeded to court but I did collate separate evidence for every section

[scyouknow13]

Okay a further question, did you choose certain sections of the investigation process such as bail and remand to do LCMT for or did you do it for all? Did you only pick the topics you knew you would include in your essay?

[jamonwindeyer]

Okay a further question, did you choose certain sections of the investigation process such as bail and remand to do LCMT for or did you do it for all? Did you only pick the topics you knew you would include in your essay?

A little bit of selection I think! So for investigation, I know I had a lot of evidence for bail/remand, as well as police powers - Not much at all on the use of technology. As you say, this purely reflects the fact that I'm NEVER going to get an essay on the use of technology in the investigation process by itself. So you can afford to make those sorts of selections, based on the relative significance of each dot point. But you should have at least something for everything - That's the best way to cover your bases!

[scyouknow13]

How would you write an essay on a theme or challenge like for example discretion?

[jamonwindeyer]

How would you write an essay on a theme or challenge like for example discretion?

Hey! Those are tough, you've got to figure out a way to structure into paragraphs neatly. You could do it around different parts of the syllabus (EG - the role of discretion in trials, in investigation, in sentencing). Or you could do it around the rights of victims, offenders and society. Both are good options. Just figuring out the structure is the hard bit - Once that's done treat the essay like any other! Still need a strong Thesis and lots of evidence, all that good stuff

[Rasika]

I have so much trouble with time management. Help!

[jamonwindeyer]

I have so much trouble with time management. Help!

I got you - Check out this guide!

I also write a study timetable guide you can read here