LAW7249

Fact-finding in administrative proceedings

(LAW)

Suzanne McNicol

6 points + 2 hours per week + City premises

Synopsis: Objectives of administrative and judicial adjudication; relevance of curial methods and evidentiary rules in administrative contexts; how natural justice and other Administrative Law principles constrain and mould administrative fact-finding processes; natural justice implications of recent legislative trends;oral hearings, assess competency of witnesses, question witnesses (including witnesses with particular mental and intellectual disabilities), work with interpreters, test a witness's credit, interpret witness's words and demeanour, probe and test evidence, draw appropriate inferences of fact, evaluate expert evidence, assess conflicting evidence, explain and justify findings of fact.

Assessment: Group written hearing plan for the practicum 30% + 2. Case study analysis (group or individual activity) - 30% + Written assignment: 40% (Total words for all assessment no more than 7,000)