I just came across some important VCAA FAQs for Legal Studies - information that is not in the study design. Questions highlighted in green relate to Legal Studies Units 3&4.
1. When studying an overview of law-making by parliament in Unit 1 do students need to learn all of the stages in the passage of a bill through parliament?
No. The focus for students should be on the role and characteristics of parliament broadly. Students should develop an appreciation of the structure of parliament, its role as a lawmaker, and a broad outline of how laws are made.
2. Does a study of the advice and assistance available through legal aid in Unit 1 refer to just Victoria Legal Aid?
No. Legal aid is used as a broad term to include avenues of legal advice and assistance provided by a range of bodies, and could include Law Aid and community legal centres, in addition to Victoria Legal Aid.
3. What focus should teachers include in their comparison of sentencing in Victoria with that of an international jurisdiction? (Unit 1 Area of Study 2)
The focus could be on sentencing approaches generally, or on one type of sentence, for example capital punishment or imprisonment.
4. In teaching Unit 2 Area of Study 4, are teachers limited to using one of the cases listed in the ‘Advice for teachers’ section?
No. The list of landmark cases on pages 34–35 in the ‘Advice for teachers’ are suggested cases only. Students are able to investigate any appropriate Australian case, as long as it fits the intention of the area of study.
5. What is meant by ‘judicial determination’?
For the purposes of this study judicial determination is presumed to mean a dispute resolution process whereby parties to a legal dispute present evidence and submit arguments to a judicial officer (includes a judge, magistrate or appropriate Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) member), who then makes a binding determination about the outcome of the case. An appropriate VCAT member is the VCAT President or one of its Vice-Presidents. Teachers should note that this definition of judicial determination varies slightly from the definition provided in the annotations on the annotated study design distributed at the Legal Studies Implementation Workshops.
6. When students are describing the jurisdiction of the Victorian Magistrates’ Court would they be required to include a discussion of the specialist divisions (for example the Assessment and Referral List or Koorie Court)?
No, because the specialist divisions are divisions of the Victorian Magistrates’ Court and these divisions can only hear cases within the jurisdictional limits of the Victorian Magistrates’ Court.
7. What is ‘structural protection’ in the Commonwealth Constitution?
Structural protection is the systems or mechanisms in the Commonwealth Constitution that indirectly protect rights by preventing the abuse of power, such as the separation of powers or representative government.
8. Students currently study the role of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). Should teachers still teach the lists?
Teachers could use one of the VCAT lists to illustrate the role of VCAT. However, students are not expected to describe the
jurisdiction of the list.
9. What could be included as a recommendation for change in the legal system?
A recommended change to the legal system is a suggested change that is currently being discussed in the general community. It should not be one that the student has thought of themselves.
10. What is considered to be a contemporary example or a recent case?
The VCE Legal Studies Study Design does not stipulate the time period for a case or example to be considered as contemporary or recent. Teachers should choose cases where impact on the law/legal system is still relevant.
This information would be more for teacher use I would imagine, but I thought it would be useful to all of you, as we are the first students doing the new study design.
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