LEGL1102 Contentious Justice Issues

2016

4.5

1 x 2-hour lecture weekly
1 x 1-hour tutorial weekly

1 of LEGL1003, LEGL1003A has been successfully completed

Assignment(s); Test(s); Tutorial participation.

The ways in which laws are reformed in Australia are fascinating and important. Law reform can also be very relevant to each of us in our daily lives because it is often about individual's legal rights. But how does law reform take place, why, by whom and what are the consequences? The aim of this topic is to examine the ways, means, and consequences of reform of law and policy. Students will do this by examining a series of topical and challenging case studies of law and policy reform. The case studies include conflict over legal rights and laws in relation to marriage, sex and paternity, child consent to medical treatment and young people's rights. The topic examines the development of competing ideas of rights in each of the case-studies, focusing on the origins of current laws as well as possible and desirable law reforms in the future in Australia and also in other societies. Finally, students will consider the question of the most appropriate way(s) to enshrine legal rights, or indeed whether it makes sense at any level to attempt to enshrine rights in Australian law.

This topic aims to assist students to:

• develop an understanding of the central foundations of the way that Australia regulates social groups under law

• examine relevant and topical issues in the development of contemporary laws

• understand the ways that interest groups are influenced and in turn influence the policies and laws in this area

• develop their written and oral communication skills

At the completion of this topic it is expected that students will:

• be able to identify the main strengths and weaknesses of the state and federal systems of policies and laws that regulate the social world

• be better equipped to identify and evaluate the pressures for reform of regulation of a range of identified social groups in Australia and other societies

• be better informed and able to defend arguments relating to the ethics and effectiveness of different approaches to legal regulation

• have further developed their skills in the areas of essay writing, group work and problem solving