Court Process, Evidence and Proof - LAWS2351
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:
Pre-requisite: Criminal Laws (LAWS1022/JURD7122) or Criminal Law 2 (LAWS1011/JURD7111)
Excluded: JURD7221, JURD7251, LAWS2321
CSS Contribution Charge: 1 (more info)
Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule
Further Information: See Class Timetable
View course information for previous years.
Description
Court Process, Evidence and Proof provide students with study of the law of evidence and court process with special emphasis on criminal trial issues. These topics are examined in their legal, ethical and socio-psychological dimensions. The course approaches these topics by first exploring the legal and factual elements that define evidence law. The course explores prosecutors’ ethical and legal obligations to the court and to the defendant. From this preliminary framework students examine key principles, rules and institutional elements associated with the formal adjudication of legal disputes. Australia’s uniform evidence legislation provides the major doctrinal focus of this course. Its institutional focus centres on the role of participants in the court process. The course aims to foster in students critical analytical skills and values consistent with aspirational ideals of professional and ethical legal practice. These goals are pursued by observational fieldwork, audio-visual aids, occasional guest speakers, readings and the engagement of students in classroom discussion. That also assists to develop students’ understanding of the complexities and challenges evidence law and court processes create for litigants, lawyers, witnesses and decisionmakers. Finally, the course pays particular attention to ensuring students fully appreciate the important rights of criminal defendants and vulnerable witnesses the protections that should be afforded to them in court.
Course Learning Outcomes
The student will be able to:
- Demonstrate awareness of principles of court process, evidence and proof and their relationship to the broader context;
- Situate and explain court process and evidence law in their national and interdisciplinary contexts;
- Engage in critical analysis of the nexus between practice and theory in relation to court process and evidence law;
- Apply cumulative knowledge and skills to solving problems associated with civil and criminal court process;
- Demonstrate effective written communication skills evidenced by rigorous analysis, and/or reflection and critique of court process and evidence law;
- Demonstrate effective oral communication skills by presenting assessments using diverse media;
- Demonstrate effective oral communication skills by discussing and debating course concepts in a scholarly, reflective and respectful manner; and
- Engage in reflective practice regarding the obligation of ethical legal practitioners in a courtroom context.
Topics
- Adversarialism, the accused and the criminal trial;
- Relevance and discretionary and mandatory exclusions;
- Proof and judicial knowledge;
- Obtaining testimony (prosecutorial fairness, unrepresented accused, testimonial competence and compellability);
- Questioning witnesses in court (examination in chief, cross-examination, re-examination, unfavourable witnesses, credibility attacks on witnesses, special rules regarding sexual offences);
- The hearsay rule and its exceptions;
- Evidence of opinion and expert testimony;
- The accused and limitations on evidence (the accused as a witness, his/her right to silence, character, tendency and coincidence evidence);
- Unreliable evidence, judicial directions and warnings.
Assessment
Advanced Court Observation Assignment - 30%
Final Exam - 70%
Optional Assessment:
Class Participation - 10% (maximisable)
Final Exam - 70%
Optional Assessment:
Class Participation - 10% (maximisable)
Texts
Prescribed Texts:
- Course reader from UNSW Bookshop.
Supplementary Materials:
- Anderson J, Clegg, L & Williams N, The New Law of Evidence: Annotation and Commentary on the Uniform Evidence Acts, 2nd edition, LexisNexis Butterworths 2009 or
- Odgers S, Uniform Evidence Law (10th Ed, Law Book Co, 2012) or:
- A copy of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW).
Other Recommended Texts and Materials
- Gans J & Palmer A, Uniform Evidence Oxford University Press, 2010
- Ligertwood, A & Edmond, G, Australian Evidence: A Principled Approach to the Common Law and the Uniform Acts, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2010
- ALRC Report 102, Review of the Uniform Evidence Act, Dec, 2008
- Byrne P & Heydon JD, Cross on Evidence: Sixth Australian Edition Looseleaf, LexisNexis Butterworths (available at Butterworths Online)
Study Levels
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