LAW7250

Administrative Justice Issues in Tribunal Adjudication

(LAW)

Mrs Pam O'Connor

Clayton campus by distance education enrolment; Prerequisites: None; 6 credit points.The unit requires the equivalent of 12 hours per week over one semester. This will be made up of a combination of: reading the online materials and guided readings, optional further readings, self-directed reading for the Module B group activity, completing assessment activities, leading and contributing to the online discussion forum.

Synopsis: Online seminar with individual and group activities. Module A: disqualification by reason of pecuniary interest or prior association; reopening questions already decided by a court or tribunal; the award of costs in tribunal proceedings; the effect of non-compliance with procedural requirements in legislation; and participation rights in tribunal proceedings. Module B: compulsory referral of parties to alternative dispute processes; overcoming adversarial culture; representation and unrepresented parties; tribunals and information rights; independence from executive government; and the implications of performance management regimes for administrative justice.

Assessment: The assessment will comprise four tasks: Students will select two (2) Topic questions from Module A, which they will complete individually (each question is 20% of the total assessment). Working in study groups of two to four, students will select a Topic question from Module B or seek approval of a Topic of their own devising, and will jointly make a written presentation to their fellow class members - 50%. Finally, the Study Group will initiate seminar discussion on its selected Topic for Module B by posting the opening message to the online 'chat room' - 10%. The word limits for the various assessment activities will not exceed 7,000 words in total.