Legal Studies

Prerequisite  None

Course Description

Legal Studies develops students’ knowledge, understanding and critical thinking skills in relation to the legal system and its effectiveness in promoting a just and fair society, with a view to empowering students to participate effectively as responsible citizens at the local, national and international level.

The Year 11 course develops students’ knowledge and understanding about the legal system, the individual and the law and provides a deeper understanding of the principles of law through a topic on law in practice. This is achieved by investigating, analysing and synthesising legal information and investigating legal issues from a variety of perspectives.

The HSC course investigates the key areas of crime and human rights as well as providing opportunity to study two options in greater detail from areas such as consumers, global environmental protection, family, Indigenous peoples, shelter, workplace and world order.

For whom is this subject intended

Legal Studies may be useful in careers involving law, commerce, business studies, economics, politics, and sociology.

Main Topics Covered

Year 11 course

●        Core Part I - The Legal System:  Basic legal concepts, Sources of contemporary Australian law, Classification of Law, Law Reform, Law Reform in Action

●        Core Part II - The Individual and the Law: You Rights and Responsibilities, Resolving Disputes, Contemporary Issue: The Individual and Technology

●        Core Part III - The Law in Practice: unit is designed to provide opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the principles of law covered in the first sections of the course.

HSC Course

●        Core Part I - Crime: The nature of crime, The criminal investigation process, The criminal trial process, Sentencing and punishment, Young offenders, International crime

●        Core Part II - Human Rights: The nature and development of human rights, Promoting and enforcing human rights, Contemporary issue

●        Part III - Options: Two chosen from consumers, global environmental protection, family, Indigenous peoples, shelter, workplace and world order).

Particular Course Requirements

Key Themes Incorporated Across All Topics 

●        Relationship between justice, law and society 

●        Development and reform of law 

●        Responsiveness of the legal system 

●        Effectiveness of legal and non-legal mechanisms in achieving justice

It is desirable that students undertaking Legal Studies in the HSC have strong literacy skills.  Both the Preliminary and HSC course require strong writing and reading skills.  The HSC exam contains a number of extended response questions.