Areas of Law

1. Areas of Law

2. Getting Started Definitions Using the internet find a definition for the following: • Civil Law • Codification • Common law • Concurrent powers • Criminal law • Duty of Care • Ethics • Exclusive power • Family law • Referendum • Residual powers • Statute law

3. Classifying Laws • Modern law can be classified into two main types: • Public law – are laws that deal with the standard of behaviour that society expects from its government and people (and those who work within the government). This includes criminal law as well as laws that relate to how governments operate (constitutional and administrative law) • Private law – are laws that deal with the way individuals interact with each other. This includes laws that regulate the behaviour of people towards each other and the behaviour of businesses. This law is commonly referred to as Civil law .

4. Public Law : Criminal law • Criminal law exists to protect the general public from harm. When a person breaks a criminal law they are considered to be harming all members of society. The police on behalf of the Crown (government) investigate the matter and bring the case against the accused. • The prosecution presents the case to the court on behalf of the Crown. It is the prosecution’s role to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused person committed the offence. If this is proven then a punishment will be issued on behalf of all of society.

5. Crime: Activities • Activity 1. Crime Statistics Access the Bureau of Crime Statistics www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/bocsar • Outline the trends in the statistics for murder, assault, motor vehicle theft, and break and enter into a dwelling. • Are the trends similar to the perceptions of crime that seem to be held by most people in our society? Why might this be the case? • What are the crime ‘hotspots’ for break and enter into a dwelling, assault and motor vehicle theft?

6. Crime: Activities • Activity 2 • Complete the worksheet on “Six types of Crime”

7. Six Main Types of Criminal Activity • Crime against persons • Crimes against property • White collar crimes • Crimes against the state • Public order offences • Traffic offences

8. Crime against persons • These are crimes involving injury caused to another person. Such crimes include: • Homicide – the intentional killing of another person • Manslaughter – the accidental killing of another person or killing another with a justifiable reason; eg. Self defence. • Assault – causing or threatening to cause injury to another person

9. Crimes against property • These are crimes that result in property being stolen or damaged. Offences in this category include: • Larceny – removing another person’s property without that person’s consent. • Break and enter – a person illegally entering a building to commit an offence • Robbery – using violence or the threat of violence to take another person’s property.

10. White collar crime • These crimes are usually committed by professional people and are not associated with violence or damage to property. Typical white-collar crimes are tax evasion and computer hacking.

11. Crimes against the state (Country) • These include: • Sedition – encouraging a hatred of the state • Treason – a more serious offence than sedition, it is where a person or organisation actively tries to bring about the collapse of a government or assists the enemies of a country.

12. Public order offences • These are crimes that disrupt the activities of our society. They include a wide variety of offences, such as swearing in public, and being drunk and disorderly.

13. Traffic offences • These are the most widely committed offences in our society. They involve crimes such as driving without a seat belt and running a red light. Most of these crimes are dealt with at the scene with on the spot fines. More serious offences are dealt with by the courts e.g. Drink driving offences.

14. Crime: Activity 3 Your rights when arrested The law society of NSW fast facts site at www.lawsociety.com.au/page.asp?partid=6691 • Review the above site • Outline your rights when arrested

15. Public Law: Constitutional and Administrative law • Constitutions are rules that set out what the government can and cannot do! The Australian constitution was ratified in 1901 and can only be modified by a referendum. • The Australian constitution does not list the rights of citizens (except the right to movement) instead most of our rights comes from common and statute laws. • The constitution outlines the powers of the Commonwealth and state governments.

16. The Division of power Commonwealth parliament Exclusive powers Division of power Concurrent powers State parliament Residual powers

17. Constitution cont….. • The constitution also details how power is to be divided between the three branches of the Commonwealth Government.

18. Residual powers • At the time of Australia’s Federation in 1901, the state parliaments held considerable powers , which they were reluctant to give up. Therefore, the constitution grants many powers to the states, particularly in the areas of health, law and order, education and the environment. These powers are known as residual powers.

19. The Separation of power Separation of power The executive The Legislature The judiciary Prime Minister and Cabinet Commonwealth Parliament The High Court of Australia

20. Exclusive powers • The powers that were transferred from the states to the Commonwealth Government are referred to as exclusive powers. The most important of these powers are known as external powers. These are powers that enable the Commonwealth to deal with other nations. External powers include customs and quarantine laws, foreign relations with other nations , defence and , most importantly, the right to enter into international agreements with other nations, such as the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child.

21. Concurrent powers • Some powers are shared between the states and Commonwealth parliaments. These are known as concurrent powers. • When a conflict arises between the powers of the states and the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth’s rights take precedence; that is, they will be considered the most important. An example of a concurrent power is law enforcement of drug offences. State and federal forces both deal with drug trafficking.

22. Important aspect of the Constitution • One of the most important aspects of our constitution is that it aims to ensure that no one person or group can take control of Australia. Therefore, the constitution separates powers between the three most important groups in the ruling of Australia: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. By splitting the power between these groups, each group can act as a check and balance on the other groups.

23. Administrative laws • Administrative laws deal with the rules regulating the powers of government agencies and department. When the government creates a department it is done so through the making of a statute law. The law will outline the role and powers of the department.

24. Private or Civil law • Civil law governs the legal relations between individuals and organisations. Clivil law matters are launched by individuals or organisations who feel that they have been wronged by the actions of other individuals or organisations. • There is no criminal activity involved nor are the police involved in civil cases. • In a civil law matter, the person or organisation bringing the case is referred to as the plaintiff. They have the responsibility of proving that the defendant (the person or organisation they are accusing) has wronged them is some way.

25. The Three main areas of Civil law • Contract law • Property law • Tort law Activity 4 • Complete work sheet on Civil law

26. Contract law • A contract is a legally binding agreement between two parties. The majority of civil law cases involves contracts: that is, the plaintiff claims that the defendant has not held up their part of the contract.

27. Property law • Property is anything that can be brought or sold.