units

LAW4323

Faculty of Law

18 September 2017 22 December 2024
Monash University

Undergraduate - Unit

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

LevelUndergraduate
FacultyFaculty of Law
OfferedClayton First semester 2015 (Day)
Clayton Second semester 2015 (Day)

Synopsis

This unit involves a critical examination of

  • the general principles and the rules of evidence and the use of evidence law as a method of ensuring fair trials:
  • theoretical perspectives - reliability, libertarian, disciplinary principles, evidentiary law reform;
  • rules and principles governing the proof of facts in civil and criminal trials;
  • relevance and admissibility;
  • kinds of evidence;
  • competence and compellability;
  • privilege;
  • examination of witnesses
  • disposition and character
  • similar fact evidence;
  • options of the accused;
  • hearsay and exceptions to the rule;
  • res gestae;
  • confessions and admissions;
  • illegally obtained evidence;
  • corroboration;
  • identification;
  • opinion evidence.

Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, students will have an understanding of general evidentiary principles. In particular, they will have developed:

  1. the ability to isolate principles that are fundamental to the criminal and civil process and the conduct of fair trials in the accusatorial system
  2. competence in the skills of problem solving, analysis and written communication
  3. the analytical and interpretive skills required to give advice in relation to evidence problems and the admissibility of particular items of evidence
  4. the practical skills of presenting legal arguments, advocacy and multi-issued problem resolution in a trial context.

Assessment

Assignment (2000 words): 40% and examination (2 hours writing time plus 30 minutes reading and noting time): 60% OR examination (3 hours writing time plus 30 minutes reading and noting time): 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Fiona Hum (Semester 1)
Professor Jonathan Clough (Semester 2)

Prerequisites

LAW1100 or LAW1101 and LAW1102 or LAW1104; LAW3300 or LAW3301 and LAW3302