LibGuides: Humanities: Legal Studies 3&4

Useful resources

Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) Provides free access to over 430 full text Databases from all Australasian jurisdictions. They can be searched together, separately, by jurisdiction, or as individual databases. They include nearly 500,000 cases all forms of legislation from all jurisdictions, plus treaties, law journals, law reform reports and other content.

Liberty Victoria Liberty Victoria lobbies government to change laws it deems impact on a person's liberty. Read their submissions to parliament here.
Australian Law Reform Commission The ALRC is a Commonwealth agency that looks at whether Australian laws are working, if they are in line with laws overseas, and what needs to be changed. You can follow the ALRC on Twitter: @AusLawReform.
Family Law Council Similar to the ALRC, the Family Law Council looks specifically at the Family Law Act; how it has been interpreted in cases and how it can be improved.
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Not purely a law reform organisation, the ASRC advocates for changes to the law regarding how Asylum Seekers are processed and their Visa status once processed.
Legal Aid Victoria We help people with their legal problems. We focus on protecting the rights of Victorians and representing those who need it the most.
Fitzroy Legal Service Vision: To be an independent and influential voice that empowers and strengthens the community through access to legal services, education, information and law reform activities.
Law Institute of Victoria The professional association for solicitors in Victoria, making rules to regulate their practice, and representing them to governments and other bodies.

Keep up-to-date

Newspapers and online news: links to both online and print news sources.

Looks at contemporary media issues and isolates the various arguments ... FOR and AGAINST.

Username: clonardcollege; Password: issues

Podcasts on a range of issues

Informative, jargon-free stories about law reform, legal education, test cases, miscarriages of justice and legal culture.

The Law Report makes the law accessible. Listen to or download.

Keep up-to-date with lawmaking by seeing what issues the Senate Committees are looking at.

Q and A Check out the website for Q and A, a panel discussion show where anyone can ask questions to politicians and prominent public figures. A great way to keep you in touch with public attitudes and politician's approaches to them.
Four corners Four Corners is the oldest investigative current affairs show on television in Australia. Each week it has 50 minute documentaries on interesting global issues.
Dateline Similar to Four Corners, Dateline investigates what's going on in the world at the moment, the advances and the injustices. Particularly informative on the conflict in the Middle East.

Library catalogue

Use the Library Catalogue to find books (print, eBooks, audiobooks) and other useful resources.

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Unit 3: Rights and justice : area of study 1: the Victorian criminal justice system

This 10 minute video explains how parliaments make law, explaining the process of a Bill to an Act, how legislation changes over time, why the Commonwealth makes some laws and the states others, and delegated legislation such as regulations. This video is produced by the Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC), State Library of NSW.

This video explains the court hierarchy, the jurisdiction of courts and tribunals, and how courts can make new law by interpreting legislation, filling gaps in legislation, and developing the common law when there is no legislation. This video is produced by the Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC), State Library of NSW.

This programme discusses the differences between criminal and civil procedures. It focuses on the role the Magistrates Court plays in dealing with summary and indictable offences and the trial procedure in the County Court. It looks at the purpose of pre-trial civil procedures in exposing all evidence in order to reach an out-of-court settlement. How civil disputes are resolved and how this differs from that of a criminal trial.

Parliament and the law Videos about Parliament and the law : Parliamentary Education Office
Finding Australian legislation A research guide by the State Library of Victoria : finding Australian legislation
Australian legal system An overview of the elements of our system and how it developed, covering how law is made, what the law deals with and the roles of the legislature, judiciary and executive.

Unit 3: Rights and justice : area of study 2: The Victorian civil justice system

Commonwealth Constitution protecting rights
Useful websites

Unit 3: Rights and justice : area of study 3: role of the courts in law-making

Useful websites
The ability of judges to make law

Unit 4 : The people and the law : area of study 1: the people and the Australian constitution

Useful websites
Dispute resolution

Court cases in Australia Find information about court cases, including law reports, judgments, newspaper articles, police records and commentaries. State Library of Victoria research guide.

Unit 4 : The people and the law : area of study 2 : the people, the parliament and the courts

Useful websites
We the Jury - a short film about jury service

The Law Report

Informative, jargon-free stories about law reform, legal education, test cases, miscarriages of justice and legal culture. The Law Report makes the law accessible.

Episodes are available on the homepage or listen for free on your mobile device on the ABC Listen app, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.