EFB210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Golden Rule, Statutory Interpretation, Mischief Rule
Lecture 6 – Continued: The Australian Legal System
Australian Constitution – Federal/State relations
Exclusive powers
Concurrent powers
Residual powers
Federal Parliament only
Federal and State Parliaments
State Parliaments only
Examples: Customs, Defence,
Currency, Territories
Examples: Taxation, Marriage,
Banking, External affairs, See
s51 Constitution (40
concurrent powers)
Examples: Education, Property,
Crime, Health, Transport
Changing the Constitution
- The proposed amendment must:
1. Be passed by an absolute majority of both Houses of Parliament
• Change can only come from parliament
2. Be put to the Australian voters in the form of a referendum and passed by
• A majority of votes and
• A majority of voters in a majority of the States
o To keep it fair
3. Receive Royal Assent
• Signed off by the governor general
Queensland Parliament
- Only one house – lower house – legislative assembly
- The upper house in QLD was abolished in 1922
Judiciary
- Original and appellate jurisdiction
Judge
- Decides questions of law
Jury
- A jury is used for criminal matters heard for the first time (12 people). In QLD, prior to Sept
2008, the decision needed to be unanimous
Doctrine of precedent
- The decisions of most courts are recorded and published, leading to the creation of a second
source of law: case law
- Doctrine of precedent: in cases of similar facts, a court is obliged to follow the earlier
decisions of other courts higher within the same hierarchy
- This provides consistency in the law and is based on the notion that fairness and justice
require similar decisions be made in similar situations and similar problems should have
similar outcomes
- Barisal tries to prove that the case is difference from the case
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