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Kingscliff High School

Kingscliff High School

Achievement through Endeavour

Telephone02 6674 9777

Emailkingscliff-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Legal studies

Students of Legal Studies Stage 6 will develop an understanding of legal concepts and the way the law functions in our society.

The syllabus focuses on the way in which law is generated, how it is structured and how it operates in Australian and international contexts. Learning about our legal system will allow students to investigate the way our society operates and the influences that shape it.

Students will develop an understanding of the implications that legal decisions can have for Australian society and the ways in which the legal system can affect the lives of Australian citizens. A critical understanding of the processes of reform and change will help students to contribute to making our society more equitable for all.

The Legal Studies Stage 6 course offers excellent preparation for life through a study of the legal system, its principles, structures, institutions and processes. The course fosters respect for cultural diversity. It allows students to question and evaluate legal institutional structures in the domestic and international environments and to undertake a comparative analysis of other political and institutional structures.

Legal Studies enables students to have confidence in approaching and accessing the legal system and provides them with a better appreciation of the relationship between social and legal structures. The course will assist in the development of students' knowledge of their basic legal rights and responsibilities in a broad selection of contexts which appeal to their interests.

Preliminary course

Part I: The Legal

Principal focus: Students develop an understanding of the nature and functions of law through the examination of the law-making processes and institutions.

Part II: The Individual and the Law

Principal focus: Students investigate the way in which the law impacts on individuals by referring to legal and non-legal institutions, laws and media reports.

Part III: Law in Practice

Principal focus: students investigate contemporary issues that illustrate how the law operates in practice.

HSC course

Part I of the core – Crime

Principal focus: Through the use of a range of contemporary examples, students investigate criminal law, processes and institutions and the tension between community interests and individual rights and freedoms.

Part II of the core: Human Rights

Principal focus: Through the use of a range of contemporary examples, students investigate the notion of human rights and assess the extent to which legal systems embody such human rights and promote them in practice.

Part III: Options

Students must study TWO of the following Options.

Option 1: Consumers

Principal focus: Through the use of contemporary examples, students investigate the legal rights of consumers and the effectiveness of the law in achieving justice for consumers.

Option 2 : Global Environmental Protection

Principal focus: Through the use of contemporary examples, students investigate the effectiveness of legal and non-legal processes in promoting and achieving environmental protection.

Option 3: Family

Principal focus: Through the use of contemporary examples, students investigate the legal nature of family relationships and the effectiveness of the law in achieving justice.

Option 4 : Indigenous Peoples

Principal focus: Through the use of contemporary examples, students investigate the effectiveness of legal and non-legal processes in achieving justice for indigenous peoples globally

Option 5: Shelter

Principal focus: Through the use of contemporary examples, students investigate the legal means of securing shelter and the effectiveness of the law in achieving justice for people seeking and providing shelter.

Option 6: Workplace

Principal focus: Through the use of contemporary examples, students investigate legal rights and responsibilities and the effectiveness of the law in achieving justice in the workplace.

Option 7: World Order

Principal focus: Through the use of contemporary examples, students investigate the effectiveness of legal and non-legal measures in promoting peace and resolving conflict between nation states.