Year

2023

Credit points

10

Campus offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

LAWS104 Foundations of Law and Legal Research AND LAWS106 Criminal Law and Procedure

Teaching organisation

4 hours per week for twelve weeks or equivalent.

Unit rationale, description and aim

The Rule of Law, and access to legal advice, are the basis of free, democratic, and just societies which promote personal dignity, thriving communities, and the Common Good. Law graduates working in legal practice, in business, in government, and in the community play an essential role in promoting and upholding the Rule of Law in Australia and across the world. The Bachelor of Laws degree is an accredited degree for admission as a legal practitioner in Australia.

Evidence deals with the laws governing the information and materials that can be placed before courts and other tribunals when they are hearing criminal cases, or adjudicating civil disputes. The focus of this unit is the procedure and rules contained within the Uniform Evidence Acts.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Describe and critically evaluate the law of Evidence (GA3, GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9)

LO2 - Apply the law of Evidence to factual situations and thereby advise clients and others of their rights and obligations in those situations (GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8, GA9)

LO3 - Demonstrate competence in the analysis of problems involving admissibility of evidence and likely application (GA3, GA4, GA8, GA9)

Graduate attributes

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include:  

  • The competence and compellability of witnesses 
  • Adducing evidence including examination in chief and cross examination 
  • Character and credibility 
  • Admissibility of evidence relating to relevance, hearsay, opinion evidence, documentary evidence, admission and confessions, identification evidence, corroboration, similar fact evidence and illegally obtained evidence 
  • Privilege 
  • Burden and standard of proof 
  • Judicial discretions to exclude evidence 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Mode: Lectures, tutorials, electronic consultation, library tasks and presentations or Online lectures and activities.  

 

Duration:4 hours per week over 12 weeks or equivalent.  Students are expected to spend 150 hours in total for this unit. 

 

This level three compulsory “Priestley” unit allows students to demonstrate knowledge, skills and understanding in a specialist area of law to meet the requirements of accreditation.  

 

Our strategy is to encourage students to creatively engage with unit content and to apply fundamental legal knowledge, skills and understandings to address legal problems.  

 

The unit is designed to be delivered in intensive, weekly or online mode. We have taken a blended learning approach to provide accessibility and flexibility to our students and a student focused approach that increases depth of learning and engagement through actively utilising LEO.   

Assessment strategy and rationale

 The assessment strategy is designed to assess knowledge, skills and understanding in a specialist area of law required for accreditation.  

 The assessment tasks for this unit are designed to demonstrate achievement of each of the learning outcomes listed.  

Overview of assessments

Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment TasksWeightingLearning OutcomesGraduate Attributes

Assignment 1   

Analysis of Evidence Problem. This assignment requires students to examine a complex hypothetical involving questions of evidence. Students will be required to analyse the problem and prepare a memorandum of opinion on the relevant law and its application to the problem. Each student is required to submit a written memorandum of the issues, law and possible resolution of the case. Referencing rules are to be followed.

20% 

LO1, LO2, LO3

GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8, GA9

Assignment 2 

Written Submissions on Appeal. Students will be required to prepare a set of written submissions in support of an appeal to the Supreme Court on the analysis they undertook in Assignment 1. These submissions will be in a format suitable for court submission, and will require a more detailed examination of the problem, drawing on relevant legislation and case authorities.   

30% 

LO1, LO2, LO3

GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8, GA9

Examination

50% 

LO1, LO2, LO3

GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA9

Representative texts and references

Evidence Act 2008 (Vic) or Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) 

John Anderson, Uniform Evidence Law (Federation Press, 4th ed, 2021)  

Stephen Odgers, Uniform Evidence Law (Thomson Reuters, 11th ed, 2014) 

Heydon, JA, Cross on Evidence (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2nd ed, 2012) 


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