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Course

Principles of Public Law - LAWS1141

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 4

Enrolment Requirements:

Currently enrolled in a program in the Faculty of Law.

Equivalent: JURD7140, LAWS1140

Excluded: JURD7140, JURD7141, LAWS1140

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course introduces students to the study of public law, including its history, institutions, methods of reasoning and fundamental principles. Students will acquire an understanding of the introductory principles and theories of administrative and constitutional law as they apply to the essential features of the Australian system of government, and their implications for human rights and the rule of law. The course exposes students to this material through an examination of Australia’s hybrid constitutional inheritance from the United Kingdom and United States, as adapted in the creation and subsequent development of the federal Commonwealth. In doing so it also examines the implications of colonisation for Indigenous legal systems and assertions of Crown sovereignty. The role, powers and interrelationship of the three arms of government are considered in contemporary as well as historical context, as are the issues of rights protection and constitutional change. The course prepares students for their later study of the courses LAWS1160: Administrative Law and LAWS2150: Federal Constitutional Law, and also introduces students to the fundamentals of the skill of statutory interpretation in the public law context.

Course Learning Outcomes

The student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate comprehension of principles of public law and their relationship to Australian government.
  2. Explain the origins and later adaptations of Australian public law.
  3. Engage in critical analysis of how the principles of Australian public law operate to support and constrain the exercise of governmental power.
  4. Develop an awareness of the principles of statutory interpretation and demonstrate a capacity to apply them in a public law setting.
  5. Demonstrate effective written communication skills by articulating legal concepts clearly, persuasively and appropriately.
  6. Demonstrate effective oral communication skills by discussing and debating course concepts in a scholarly, reflective and respectful manner.

Topics

Constitutionalism
Australia’s ‘Washminster’ Inheritance
- The Westminster Tradition
- The American Tradition
The Creation of the Federated Commonwealth of Australia
- Colonisation, Indigenous Sovereignty and Crown Sovereignty
- The Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 and the Path to Federation
- The Acquisition of Legal Independence and Popular Sovereignty
The Legislature
- History and Development
- The Franchise and the Composition of Parliament
- Legislative Power
- Judicial Review of Legislation
- Statutory Interpretation
- State Constitutions and State Legislative Power
The Executive
- History and Development
- Federal and State Executive Power
- Judicial Review of Executive Action
- Non-Judicial Forms of Executive Accountability
The Judiciary
- History, Development and Composition
- A Foundation of Judicial Independence
Rights Protection and Australian Constitutionalism
Constitutional Change

Assessment

  • Class Participation - 20%
  • Mid-semester Statutory Interpretation Exercise - 30%
  • Final Examination - 50%

Texts

George Williams, Sean Brennan and Andrew Lynch, Blackshield & WIlliams Australian Constitutional Law & Theory: Commentary and Materials (6th ed, Federation Press, 2014)
UNSW Campus

Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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