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Law-making: Legislatures and Courts (LAWS90024)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2024
Overview
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This subject examines some persistent legal problems relating to the making and application of law. These include the following:
- What does it mean to speak of a system of binding precedent? What status might (should) foreign precedents have in other jurisdictions?
- Can judges make law? If they do, how is the law that they make different from that which legislatures make?
- Do legislatures have intentions? Are there any limits to what the legislature can enact?
- Should courts be constitutionally entitled to review the legality of laws that legislatures enact? Without this entitlement, what can courts do with those laws?
The subject will cover issues of interest to students from both civil and common law jurisdictions.
Principal topics include:
- The characteristics of, and differences between, enacted and judge-made law
- The nature and authority of precedent
- Retroactive law
- Judicial review of legislation
- Approaches to statutory interpretation.
Intended learning outcomes
Students who complete this subject should as a consequence be able independently and critically to:
- Formulate the distinction between judge-made and enacted law
- Explain the concept of the rule of law, as well as the rule-of-law implications of accepting the validity of certain forms of law (eg, retroactive laws)
- Assess the main principles of statutory interpretation, and distinguish law-interpretation from law-creation
- Explain the advantages and drawbacks of the principle of legislative supremacy
- Explain the advantages and drawbacks of allowing courts to review the legality of legislation.
Last updated: 30 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 30 January 2024
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Take-home examination | 100% | |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 30 January 2024
Dates & times
Not available in 2024
Time commitment details
The pre-teaching period commences four weeks before the subject commencement date. From this time, students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from Melbourne Law School. Refer to the Reading Guide for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences.
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students. Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Last updated: 30 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Core subject materials will be provided free of charge to all students. Some subjects require further texts to be purchased. Details regarding any prescribed texts will be provided prior to the commencement of the subject.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Laws Course Master of Public and International Law Course Graduate Diploma in Government Law - Links to additional information
law.unimelb.edu.au
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If required, please contact law-admissions@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 30 January 2024