Advocacy

Objectives: To be able to plan, prepare, and perform for a judge alone trial which raises Expert Evidence legal issues, raises common bases of evidence objections, and has fact and credibility disputes.

Content:  The course will cover:

• Development of case strategy - being able to analyse and prepare a case for all participant perspectives.
• Preparation skills for written and spoken forms of opening and closing submissions, and expert witness statements.
• Questioning skills for taking instructions, examination-in-chief and cross examination - agenda setting, settling the witness, witness control, story development and reiteration, argument embedded in question strings.
• How to search for relevant material in the social sciences when seeking to use social science expertise.

The assessment is expected to include three items:  a practical assessment of in court advocacy skills (which is done on the final day of the intensive); a social science literature review; and, that part of a closing submission which deals with an expert's methods and opinions.

Please note: each and every assessment item must be passed in order to pass the course.

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.

26 Contact Hours (Intensive Delivery) and WATTLE.

Click here for the 2010 timetable