This course covers important aspects of fact-finding and the adducing and admissibility of evidence in legal proceedings. The course is structured to meet the admission requirements for practice as a legal practitioner in the Australian States and Territories. Particular topics include:

• investigation and organisation of factual material
• adducing evidence in court
• testimonial, real and documentary evidence
• examination, cross-examination and reexamination of witnesses
• burden and standard of proof
• relevance of evidence to facts in issue
• admissibility rules (e.g. credibility, hearsay, opinion, tendency and coincidence, identification and character evidence), and exceptions
• privileges
• judicial discretions and conduct of proceedings.

The course will be based on the Uniform Evidence Law; comprising the Evidence Act 1995 (Cth), which applies in proceedings in Federal and ACT courts, along with counterpart legislation in New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and Norfolk Island. The course also makes reference to law reform perspectives and other legislation.

The course is designed to be taken towards the end of the degree. The study of evidence is required for admission to legal practice.

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

• organise and marshal factual material needed to make evidentiary arguments
• simulate courtoom processes for adducing testimonial, documentary and real evidence
• make and support appropriate objections relating to the admissibility of evidence (eg credibility, hearsay, opinion, tendency and conincidence, identification and character avidence, and priviliges)
• analyse and apply rules relating to the admissibility of evidence, burden and standard of proof and judicial discretions
• analyse and apply the law of evidence and evidentiary concepts, making use of rules, policy and case law authorities.

The assessment for this course will probably consist of three compulsory components:

• class participation;
• on-line tests or quizzes;
• a mid-term assignment (either a court submission or a moot argument); and
• a final examination.

The assessment regimes for the summer course and the full semester course may differ.

More information about the means of assessment, including the relationship between the assessment and the learning outcomes of the course, will be available on the course home page by the first week of semester.

The standard course in Semester 2 involves 3hours of lectures per week plus 1tutorial per week for 10 weeks.

The Summer Semester version delivers the same number of lectures over a period of 3 to 4 weeks with 1 tutorial per week during this period.

Torts LAWS1203 and Criminal Law and Procedure LAWS1206.

Completed or completing five LAWS courses at 1000 level.

The most recent edition of the following text will be used in the course: S Odgers, Uniform Evidence Law, Thomson Reuters.

None, but students will benefit from rereading cases with which they are already familiar from earlier law courses, such as Torts and Criminal Law and Procedure - though now focusing on the factual bases of these cases and considering how ‘the facts' are actually established in legal proceedings, rather than concentrating on the principles of substantive law which are applied to the facts to reach a decision. Some aspects of criminal investigation and trial procedures are also portrayed (though not always realistically in terms of accuracy and analysis) in various ‘real crime' literature and courtroom drama.

A reading guide will be available in the course outline.

Students must have access to Wattle to receive course materials and information in this course.

The course is designed to be taken towards the end of the degree. The study of evidence is required for admission to legal practice.