Evidence under Uniform Act, Prinicples of

Objectives:

This course will be concerned with a study of the law of evidence in certain key areas, to be selected with regard to their practical significance, and to the currents of judicial interpretation of the Evidence Act 1995. Some parts will deal with issues peculiar to the criminal trial, but most will deal with issues common to both civil and criminal proceedings.

Content:

Topics will be drawn from the following:

• Relevance; discretions to exclude; and tendency and coincidence evidence
• Opinion evidence
• The hearsay rule
• Identification evidence
• The ‘character’ of the accused on a criminal trial
• The impact of a Bill of Rights on rules of criminal evidence and procedure
• The law of evidence and documents

At the conclusion of this course students should be able to:

• demonstrate a critical understanding of the principles underlying the law of Evidence under the Uniform Act
• apply those principles in identifying, researching and critiquing developments in the case law in this field
• engage in reflective practice in the law of evidence and provide advice to clients and appear in Courts

Students must rely on the Approved Assessment which will be posted to the course homepage on the ANU Law website, prior to the commencement of the course.

Usual assessment is a 7,500 word research paper on a topic in the field of the PEUA that is chosen by the student and then approved by Convenor.

26 hrs - WATTLE

Odgers on Evidence; Cross on Evidence (Aust Edn)