Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

An understanding of the principles of criminal law is of fundamental importance for practising lawyers as the criminal law impinges upon almost every aspect of domestic, commercial, corporate and public activity in Queensland. Criminal law is of great importance in understanding how the Australian legal system determines what is to be classified as criminal behaviour and how breaches of the law should be dealt with.

All law schools and legal profession admission authorities regard an understanding of criminal law as essential for the practice of law and the study of criminal law is required for admission to legal practice. Graduates who will practice in court work will rely on their advocacy skills on a daily basis. It is appropriate to introduce advocacy skills in criminal law before further developing these oral communication skills in LWB239 Criminal Responsibility, LWB335 Administrative Law and LWB432 Evidence.

Aims

The aim of this unit is to provide an introduction to criminal law principles and the objects and sources of criminal law in Queensland. Further, this unit aims to demonstrate how the criminal law works in a real world context by way of the advocacy exercises. The unit also aims to develop your oral communication skills gained in LWB147 Torts A by introducing you to the principles and practice of advocacy skills.

Objectives

At the completion of this unit you should be able to:
1. apply principles of criminal law and policy related to selected criminal offences in Queensland and interpret the Criminal Code (Qld) to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding;(GC1; GC2)
2. recognise and define criminal law offences and related ethical issues in given fact scenarios;(GC1; GC2)
3. critically analyse the approach to interpretation of the Criminal Code, including the rules of statutory interpretation that apply to the Criminal Code and other penal statutes, to construct arguments for solving real world problems;(GC1; GC2)
4. communicate legal and policy arguments clearly and logically to demonstrate your understanding of the law and the basic principles of advocacy;(GC1; GC3)
5. evaluate and reflect upon your own performance and ethical attitude in response to feedback provided in tutorials, in the assessment of your advocacy exercises and the final examination to identify gaps in knowledge and develop strategies for improvement in future law units and professional practice.(GC4; GC6)

Content

The topics covered in this unit are:
1. Introduction to Criminal Law Aims, Definitions and Terminology
2. Introduction to Criminal Procedure, including classification of offences, preliminary hearings and procedures
3. Introduction to Criminal offences, in particular:
a. Offences against the person including homicide, non-fatal offences against the person, sexual offences
b. Property offences
c. Driving offences
d. Drug offences


Graduate Capabilities
Your understanding of the unit content and development of skills will assist you to acquire the following law graduate capabilities:
GC1. Discipline Knowledge;
GC2. Problem Solving, Reasoning and Research;
GC3. Effective Communication;
GC4. Life Long Learning;

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

This unit is a combination of content and skills that will develop your graduate capabilities. Therefore the unit is taught through a combination of reading materials, face-to-face lectures (to assist with your understanding of criminal law), tutorials (to allow you to practise and develop your legal problem solving, critical analysis and persuasive communication skills); and online materials (to enable you to continue evolving into an independent learner).

Study Guide
The Study Guide for the unit provides an outline of relevant content, prescribed readings and tutorial exercises for each week of semester.

Lectures
There will be one two-hour lecture per week in which information will be disseminated. The lectures are audio taped and made available through the unit's Blackboard site and are supported by PowerPoint presentations.

Online Materials
Multimedia interactive tutorials utilising the Sapphire Vortex program are available for all students. The questions are aimed at developing your understanding of criminal law principles and your ability to analyse and apply these principles in real world contexts. An advocacy video and checklists are also available on the Blackboard site for the unit. You will be required to view the advocacy video prior to the week in which you undertake your advocacy exercise.

Tutorials
Compulsory one hour tutorials are timetabled for weeks 1-13. In weeks 4-13 advocacy exercises will be conducted for internal students. Attendance at these tutorials is compulsory for internal students.

For external students, podcasts of the material covered in each tutorial after the Compulsory External Attendance School will be available on the unit's Blackboard site as audio files.

Compulsory External Attendance School
There is a compulsory External Attendance School mid way through the semester. Externals will engage with the advocacy exercises from the first part of the semester at the Compulsory External Attendance School.

Assessment

In this unit there is both formative assessment (to receive feedback on your learning) and summative assessment (to receive feedback and a mark).Feedback on the development of your understanding of criminal law and procedure examined in this unit and the skills taught is provided through:

• The face-to-face tutorials (internal students);


• External school (external students);


• Individual comments on the criterion referenced assessment sheet attached to your marked problem solving task


• Generic feedback provided on the unit's Blackboard site in relation to the problem solving task


• The individual tutor feedback to the advocacy exercises both in class and via the CRA sheet;


• The generic feedback on the examination placed on the unit's Blackboard site; and


• The option of private consultation with a member of the teaching team during student consultation.


• Examples of some completed assessment items from previous years will be available on the unit Blackboard site.

You should reflect upon the feedback on your assessment in this unit (both your individual and generic feedback as provided on Blackboard) for the purpose of identifying:

• gaps in your knowledge and understanding of the legal principles;


• inadequacies in your problem solving methodology;


• strategies to improve your problem solving, oral and written communication skills in further assessment; and


• areas for improvement for future studies within the LLB.

Assessment name: Problem Solving Task
Description: Students will be required to complete a written problem solving task (which may consist of multiple parts) which is designed to assess the extent to which they are able to link facts from a given scenario to elements of the substantive offences which are studied in the unit. They will then advise a given client as to whether the relevant offences are likely to be made out. This task represents the core skills of the unit and the format of the task closely matches the style of problem that students will be asked to address in the final exam. The response to the problem will need to be accurate and concise, with a word limit of 1,200 words. This assessment item will be based on material covered in the Sapphire Vortex package.
Relates to objectives: 1-4
Weight: 20%
Internal or external: Both
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 9

Assessment name: Advocacy Exercise
Description: The advocacy exercise requires you to present a 10 minute argument in an adversarial situation on an allocated problem. A further 5 minutes is allocated for your tutor to ask questions from the Bench as part of the assessment. You will also be required to submit an outline (max 1000 words) of the arguments that you will be presenting during your advocacy exercise. Internal students will present their advocacy exercise in an allocated tutorial during the semester.

Due Date: For Internals: Between weeks 4 and 13; For Externals: External Attendance School.
Relates to objectives: 1, 3 and 5
Weight: 20%
Internal or external: Both
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: See Description

Assessment name: Examination
Description: There will be a compulsory end of semester exam. The examination will be open book. The exam will assess your understanding of criminal law principles in the unit and your problem solving, critical analysis and communication skills.
Relates to objectives: 1-3
Weight: 60%
Internal or external: Both
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Central Exam Period

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Resource Materials
Prescribed Materials:
MJ Shanahan, PE Smith, S Ryan, Carter's Criminal Law of Queensland (LexisNexis Butterworths, Sydney: 19th ed, 2013) AND
G Kenny, An Introduction to Criminal Law in Queensland and Western Australia (LexisNexis Butterworths, Sydney: 8th ed, 2013) OR
K Burton, T Crofts and S Tarrant, Principles of Criminal Law in Queensland and Western Australia (Thomson Reuters, Sydney, 2011).

Recommended Reference Materials:
K Burton, and G Mackenzie, Butterworths Questions and Answers: Criminal Law in Queensland and Western Australia (LexisNexis Butterworths, Sydney: 2006).
E Colvin, S Linden and J McKechnie, Criminal Law in Queensland and Western Australia: Cases and Materials (LexisNexis Butterworths, Sydney: 6th ed, 2011).
H Douglas, K Everton-Moore, S Harbidge and L Levy, Criminal Process in Queensland and Western Australia (Thomson Reuters, Sydney: 2010).
G Martin and G Mullins, Motor Vehicle Law (Queensland), Looseleaf Service (Law Book Co, Sydney) (available online through Lawbook Online)
MG Perry, Hampel on Advocacy: A Practical Guide to Basics (Leo Cussen Institute, Melbourne: 2005).
Lee Stuesser, An Introduction to Advocacy (LBC Information Services, Sydney: 2nd ed, 2011).

Risk assessment statement

Apart from the explicit materials dealt with in the subject, there are no out of the ordinary risks associated with it.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 03-Dec-2012