LEGL1201 Law in Australian Society

In this topic, students will develop an appreciation of law as a social institution, the structure of the Australian legal system including Indigenous legal systems, as well as how the law works in practice and the relationship between law and social change. Students will be introduced to the main legal institutions and sources of law that operate in Australia, including political institutions, the judiciary and courts, the legal profession, and legal actors who enforce the law.

The topic will also consider the social functions of the law, and in particular will look at the debate between whether law maintains social order or is an instruction of social control.

This topic aims to:

• Examine how the law operates as a social institution, including the importance of political and social contexts in influencing the operation of law
• Examine the structure of the Australian legal system, including Indigenous legal systems
• Develop an understanding of the main sources of law
• Develop an understanding of the relationship between law and social change
• Investigate the role of key legal actors within the Australian legal system
• Investigate the aims of the Australian legal system, and how the Australian legal system operates in practice

1. Recognise the importance of the understanding law as a social institution
2. Analyse and critique the structure of the Australian legal system, including the role of key legal actors and mechanisms for legal change
3. Recognise the importance of the Indigenous legal systems, and the impact of state law upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
4. Analyse and critique the aims and functions of the legal system
5. Analyse and critique the operation of law in practice