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principles and procedures that have developed

customary law according to the customs of a people or nation, or
groups of nations and are treated as obligatory

collective habits or traditions that have developed

customs
in a society over a long period of time

the state or quality of being equal, that is, of having

equality
the same rights or status

1. moral principles that govern a person's

behaviour or the conducting of an activity
ethics 2. a major branch of philosophy, which investigates
the nature of values and of right and wrong
conduct

free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice; conformity

fairness
with rules or standards

the legal principle of upholding generally accepted

justice rights and enforcing responsibilities ensuring that
equal outcomess are achieved for those involved

a set of rules imposed on all members of a

community which are officially recognised and
law
enforceable by persons or organisations such the
police and/or courts

system of courts, prosecutors and police in a

legal system
country

the body of principles used to ensure the fairness

and justice of the decision making procedures of
courts; in Australia it generally refers to the right to
natural justice
present your case, the right to freedom and from
bias by decision-makers and the right to a
decision-based on logically relevant evidence

2 main principles
-right to be heard (and right to a fair hearing)
-right to have a decision made by an unbiased
procedural fairness decision-maker - even tiny appearance of bias is
enough - R v Sussex Justices Exparte McCarthy,
dangerous driving[1924] a clerk was also a solicitor
representing McCarthy's opposition in another case

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rule of law noone is above the law, not even law makers

regulations or principles governing procedure or

rules
controlling conduct

rule by a single leader holding absolute power in a

tyranny
nation-state

principles, standards or qualities considered

values
worthwhile or desirable in a society

a system of resolving legal disputes, common to

England and Australia, that relies on the skill of
adversarial system representatives for each side (eg. defense,
prosecution, lawyers), who present their cases to
an impartial decision-maker

an application have a higher court reconsider a

appeal lower court's decision, on the basis of an error of
law

the ability or power of a court to hear appeals of

appellate jurisdiction lower courts and to regret, affirm or modify those
decisions

bicameral (of a legislative body): having 2 chambers

a drafted law that has not yet been passed by

bill
parliament

inquires held in the Local or Magistrates' Court to

determine whether there is enough evidence
committal hearing
against the defendant to warrant a trial in a higher
court (establishing a prima facie case)

law made by the courts and judges; and historically

common law
law common to England

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state parliament however, can also make laws in

most of the s51, concurrent powers are powers
concurrent powers
existing at the same time, powers held by both
state and federal parliaments

the act of making statements or suggestions that

defamation
harm someone's reputation in the community

laws made by authorities other than parliament,

delegated legislation who are delegated to do this by an act of
parliament (and non-parliamentary)

domestic law the law of a nation

the body of alw that supplements the common law

equity and corrects injustices by judging each case on its
merits and applying principles of fairness

historically, courts whose decisions are more

discretionary and based on moral principles which
courts of equity
served as an antidote to the inflexibility of common
law

s52, powers that can be exercised only by the

federal parliament outlined
1. the seat of government of the commonwealth,
and all places acquired by the Commonwealth for
public purposes
exclusive powers 2. matters relating to any department of the public
services controlled by the Commonwealth,
according to the Constitution
3. Other matters declared by the constitution to be
within the exclusive power of the Commonwealth
parliament

(latin) 'from one side' in a case this means the

ex parte
other side is absent or unpresented

the power of the Commonwealth to legislate on

International matters involving Australia;
interpreted by the HC to mean that when the
external affairs power
Commonwealth signs an International treaty or
convention it has the authority to enact to this
international law within Aus

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the process of uniting several states to form a

federation
single national government

serious criminal offences that require an indictment

( a formal written charge) and a preliminary
indictable offences
hearing; they are typically tried before a judge and
jury and are subject to a greater penalty

legal systems where the court or a part of the court

(eg. the judge) is actively involved in conducting
inquisitorial system the trial and determining what questions to ask;
used in some countries with civil legal systems as
opposed to common law systems

powers of a court, depending on its geographic

jurisdiction area, the type of matters that can be decided and
the type of remedies that can be sought

the legal power or capacity to make

legislative powers laws,'enumerated powers', the federal parliament
has the power to all of the matters of s51

a process in which 2 parties are brought together

mediation for the purpose of discussing and resolving a
conflict

(latin) comments from a judge in case that are not

obiter dicta directly relevant to the case, and therefore not
legally binding

(latin) 'opinion that an act is necessary by rule of

law': the principle that for the practice of a state to
opinio juris sive necessitatis
be a customary international law, the state must
believe that international law requires it

ability or power of a court to hear a case in the first

original jurisdiction instance or before any any appellate juris.
pg39 for their juris.

judgement that is authority for a legal principle and

that serves to provide guidance for deciding cases
that have similar circumstances
precedent binding: lower courts are bound to follow decisions
of high courts, regardless of judge's thesis
persuasive: when higher courts use lower court's
decisions to help make a decision

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to formally confirm that the country intends to be

bound by the treaty, for some countries such as
ratify France, treaties that are ratified automatically
become part of the domestic law, other countries
may require domestic legislation to pass into law

ratio decidendi (latin) legal reason for a judge's decision

the referral of a particular issue to the electorate for

referendum
a vote

those remaining matters on which the state can

residual powers
legislate what are not referred to in the Constitution

penalty or punishment imposed for breaking the

sanction
law

(latin) 'the decision stands'; doctrine that a decision

stare decisis made by higher courts must be followed by lower
courts

criminal offences that can be dealt with by a single

summary offences judge without a jury and do not require a
preliminary hearing, does not need an indictment

statute law law made by parliament

terra nullius (latin) 'land belonging to noone'

an international agreement concluded between

states in written form and governed by the
guidelines of international law: an agreement,
treaty between legal equals and may cover any sphere of
international
bilateral - lombok treaty
multilateral - UN charter

(latin) beyond the power or authority legally held by

ultra vires
a person, institution or statute to perform an act

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a latin term meaning: 'incapable of wrong'; the

presumption that a child under 10 years of age
doli incapax cannot be held legally responsible for his or her
actions and cannot be guilty of a criminal or civil
offence

investigations into death that have occured in

coronial inquests unusual, suspicious, held in the Coroner's Court
and overseen by a Magistrate called the coroner

legislation that regulates corporations, the security

of it and future industries in Australia, it is
corporations law
administered by the Australian Securities
Investments Commission (ASIC)

statute law, resulting from a bill successfully

act of parliament passing through parliament and gaining royal
assent

the government policy of allowing persons of

White Australia Policy European descent and English speaking people to
migrate to Australia

tariff a tax that must be put on imports or exports

abbreviations for 'section of any legislation', 'ss' is

s
the abbreviation for 'sections' (plural)

bipartisan having the support of the two major political parties

legislative - the lawmakers (in Aus. this is the

parliament (HoR and Senate))
executive - the ministers and gov. departments
who administer the laws made by parliament (in
Montesquieu's 3 organs of gov
Aus. the GG, PM and cabinet are part of executive)
judiciary - the courts which interpret and apply the
law
if 1 individual or group controls all 3, dictatorship

basic individual rights, such as freedom of speech

civil liberties
and religion which are protected by law

a court order compelling a gov. official or

mandamus
organisation to perform a particular task

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a court order that forbids a lower level court from

prohibition
having or taking further action in a case or matter

a court order, that forbids an individual or

injunction
organisation from performing a particular action

fiscal relating to governmental financial matters

'R' at the beginning of a case name refers to

Regina (latin for 'Queen'). Since Aus. is a
constitutional monarchy this refers to an head of
R
state on whose behalf the prosecution case is run.
When head of state is male R stands for Rex (latin
for King)

where the HC grants approval for the case to go

special leave
before it on appellate jurisdictione

a disputed legal contention that is left for the judge

questions of law
to decide (eg. whether evidence is admissable

analysis of the facts presented in a case and often

merits review
in policy choices that led to the decision

edlder men and women of recognised wisdom and

authority who are the keeper of traditional
Elders knowledge within idigenous communities, they are
responsible for such things as initiation, and
handing out of sanctions

making the severity of an offence or sanction

milder or less severe, esp. in the case the
mitigation
individual commits the crime because of customary
law

autonomous entity that is recognised by other

states on an international basis, it must have:
-defined territory
state
-effective government
-permanent population
-capacity to enter into international negotiations

the state has the authority to make rules to its

sovereignty
population and to power to enforce those rules

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