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:

• Prior Inconsistent Statements
• The Principle in Jones v Dunkel
• The Principle in Browne v Dunn
• The rule in Briginshaw
• Hearsay
• Affidavit Evidence
• Opinion Evidence
• Tendency and Coincidence
• Client Privilege and Legal Advice Privilege
• The Dominant Purpose Test

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.

It is anticipated that the assessment package will include Participation in an online discussion forum, ten short weekly exercises and a 4,000 word research paper.

26 hrs - WATTLE

Students enrolling in it will have a fundamental background in the Law of Evidence in Australia from their prior LLB studies.

LLB (including Evidence)

P. Bayne's text on the Principles of Evidence

Odgers on Evidence; Cross on Evidence (Aust Edn)

Students must have access to WATTLE to access the screen for this course and to lodge assessments electronically.

This course is run on WATTLE (http://wattle.anu.edu.au/). Once enrolled you will need to logon using your ISIS username and password. When available students will be able to gain access to the course materials and modules.