Postgraduate - UnitLAW5607 - Comparative evidence law

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.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Law
Offered	Not offered in 2015

Notes

For postgraduate Law discontinuation dates, please see http://www.law.monash.edu.au/current-students/postgraduate/pg-disc-dates.html
Previously coded as LAW7651

Quota applies

The unit can be taken by a maximum of 45 students (due to limited facilities and method of teaching).

Synopsis

This unit will provide a comparative survey of some of the modern principles of evidence. It will focus on the right and obligations of the parties in the common law and civil law regimes.Some of the major concepts of evidence law will be examined including:

the role of the parties in litigation;
burden of proof;
relevance and admissibility;
witnesses;
privileges;
the hearsay rule;
expert evidence; and
documentary and Real evidence.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit,a student should be able to:

apply knowledge and understanding to the major general principles of evidence law as they apply to different legal jurisdictions, specifically Australia, Canada, the U.S. and some civilian jurisdictions with creativity and initiative to new situations for further learning;
investigate, analyse and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and theories in relation to the major differences and similarities of the evidence rules in the various jurisdictions;
conduct research into the application and meaning of a number of specific rules of evidence by examining statute and case law from the various jurisdictions, based on knowledge of appropriate research principles and methods; and
use cognitive, technical and creative skills to generate and evaluate at an abstract level complex ideas and concepts to the interaction of evidence law and related areas.

Assessment

Class participation: 10%; class presentation: 10%; research paper(2,250 words)30%; take home exam: 50%

Workload requirements

Students will be required to attend 36 hours of seminars, and undertake approximately an additional 108 hours of private study, including reading, class preparation, and assignment preparation and revision time over the duration of the course.