Legal Method and Reasoning

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

80-100 hours.

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills, and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to providing support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This foundation subject introduces students to core elements of legal method and reasoning in common law legal systems, including: the principal sources of law; the ways in which law develops and is used in relation to each; the relationship between sources of law; and the principal contemporary theoretical debates on common law method. Methodological issues will be considered in substantive context, to give students an understanding of the social role of law. Students will develop their own legal skills, through interactive classes, additional skills classes and assessment tasks that are designed to give students hand-on experience, as well as to test skills acquired in the course.

The principal topics include:

• Analysis of a case;
• The concept and use of precedent;
• Progressive evolution of common law doctrine;
• Emergence of new doctrine;
• Analysis of a statute;
• Approaches to statutory interpretation;
• Relationship between statutes and case-law and between statutes themselves;
• Presumptions in statutory interpretation.

Essentially descriptive material concerning the structure of government, the hierarchy of courts and the nature of the legislative process will be covered in introductory readings; understanding of it will be enhanced and reinforced through discussions in class.

On completion of this subject, students should:

• Understand and be able to describe the institutional structure of Australian government and its implications for the legal system;
• Understand and be able to engage in critical debate on the way in which common law reasoning operates, including an ability to:
  
  - Extract important features from judgments;
  - Reconcile judgments;
  - Evaluate the development of legal principles;
  - Apply legal principles arising from case law to new situations.
  
• Understand and be able to engage in critical debate on the way in which significant statutory regimes operate, including an ability to:
  
  - Extract important features from statutes;
  - Use, interpret and apply statutory provisions to new situations.
  
• Have acquired basic skills in legal analysis and problem-solving, on which subsequent subjects will build, including an ability to:
  
  - Identify and analyse legal issues arising in new fact situations;
  - Demonstrate ways in which disputes can be resolved.
• Have a sound and reliable grasp of fundamental legal research skills, including an ability to:
  
  - Find case law;
  - Find legislation.
  
• Have a grounding in legal writing skills, which them to:
  
  - Identify and articulate legal principles, concisely and accurately;
  - Evaluate the significance and implications of legal rules and the issues to which they relate;
  - Provide advice on legal issues.
  
• Have developed an enthusiasm for the study of law;
• Have acquired an attitude to legal education which accepts pre-reading, reflection and class discussion as essential to learning.

• Assignment 1: Case Analysis (1,500 words) due in accordance with the assessment schedule;
• Assignment 2: Statutes (1,500 words) due in accordance with the assessment schedule;
• All assessment will be graded as hurdle requirements. Students must pass all assessment tasks to be awarded a pass in the subject.
  

• Printed materials will be available from the Melbourne Law School;
• Catriona Cook (et al), Laying Down the Law (7th ed, 2009);
• Butterworths Concise Australian Legal Dictionary.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of the subject, students should have developed the following generic skills:

• Attitudes towards knowledge that include valuing truth, openness to new ideas and ethics associated with knowledge creation and usage;
• The capacity for close reading and analysis of a range of sources;
• The capacity for critical and independent thought and reflection;
• The capacity to solve problems, including through the collection and evaluation of information;
• The capacity to communicate, both orally and in writing;
• The capacity to plan and manage time;
• The capacity to participate as a member of a group engaged in class exercises;
• Intercultural sensitivity and understanding;
• Oral communication skills, by participating in classroom problem solving and discussion;
• An ability to work in groups to solve problems and critically analyse legal materials in a classroom setting.