Law Court Report Assignment.

[vashappenin]

Hi guys,
I'm a bit lost on how to go about this assignment. I have a few questions:
- I'm interested in family law so I want to focus on cases to write on the  family law matters question. Generally is it difficult to find a good case (or two) that'll address the question (on mediation?) Anyone else interested in this topic or do this topic before?
- Is there a particular area (civil, criminal, family law) that isnt recommended to choose due to difficulty in finding relevant cases?
- Is/Has anybody actually selected option d: access to justice? This is the one where you need Hyam's permission to visit one of the Law faculty's Community Legal services. I think the topic is pretty good too, so this would also be a good option for me. Is it difficult in your experience observing and writing on option d?
- Is the Oakleigh legal service far from Monash clayton campus?

Any other advice before visiting the courts/community legal services would be much appreciated too. Thanks in advance

[ninwa]

- What's the topic exactly? (NB to other law students doing this assignment - careful what you say here doesn't amount to collusion)
- Don't think so
- I've only worked at Monash's Springvale legal service but in my time there I definitely observed a lot of access to justice issues
- MOLS is right next to Monash! It's like on the other side of the fence haha

If you're going to court, go to the front desk and tell them you're a law student doing an assignment and they'll often point you to courtrooms with actual hearings (or at least something more interesting than a mention/adjournment)

[vashappenin]

- What's the topic exactly? (NB to other law students doing this assignment - careful what you say here doesn't amount to collusion)

'In family law proceedings, mediation, known as family dispute resolution, is seen as a particularly important alternative to the adversarial court system because it encourages communication, problem solving, compromise and win-win results.' In the family law proceeding you observed, to what extent was it apparent that attempts had been made to settle the matter prior to the hearing? Can you identify any potential benefits of using mediation in the hearing observed? Were there any identifiable benefits of litigation in the hearing observed?

- I've only worked at Monash's Springvale legal service but in my time there I definitely observed a lot of access to justice issues
- MOLS is right next to Monash! It's like on the other side of the fence haha

If you're going to court, go to the front desk and tell them you're a law student doing an assignment and they'll often point you to courtrooms with actual hearings (or at least something more interesting than a mention/adjournment)

Ok cool! Well I'm thinking of just visiting the courts in the next few days and if it isn't successful, then I'll consider access to justice. Hopefully the court cases I observe are relevant though!

[ninwa]

Ooh, what an interesting topic! Check out the Family Court lists - it looks like the Melbourne CBD court is the busiest.

Some family court proceedings may not be open to the public though - best to call up beforehand and double check, so you're not travelling for nothing!

Or you could just make a day of it - might as well check out the Melbourne Magistrates Court as well, maybe the County Court too for the juicier cases, and have a wander around the Supreme/High Courts while you're at it (look up the court lists beforehand to make sure they're actually sitting for the day you decide to go)

is it really lame that that sounds like a super fun day to me? yes? okay =[

[vashappenin]

Haha!! Ok thanks It does sound exciting though dw

[HossRyams]

I have a question too :O

Do we really need a relatively long case to write up on? I'd love to write on criminal matters, but the only full hearing I got was one of the mentions I saw which was about 10 minutes LOL but it actually did make sense in regards with the prompt about therapeutic jurisprudence and complemented the stuff I've researched about the prompt so far (the defendant was crying and stuff, stuff was said, considerations made blah blah). I've tried looking for longer cases but they are usually part-heard so when I walk in I'm sort of lost haha. I'll keep looking I guess but I was just wondering how important it was so to find like the "perfect case" for your prompt, or is it more about the analysis/wider reading/reflection stuff?

[ninwa]

Not sure when this assignment is due but this is a handy lecture for those doing access to justice as a topic: http://monash.edu/news/events/show/eleventh-fiat-justitia-lecture-the-access-to-justice-imperat

[vashappenin]

Just reviewing my report, and I was wondering how long the intro should generally be? Mine's around 200 words but I don't want it to be too long.. What sorts of things are meant to be mentioned in the intro?

[ninwa]

Have a look at lynt.br's HD report in the law notes thread