How to do well in this assessment: The word count is very short. For this assessment, we want you to concentrate on analysing how the decision was reached, using statutory interpretation and by following the doctrine of precedent. It is not a conventional academic essay, so you do not need to provide a long introduction or conclusion or any evaluation of the law itself.
Do: • Take note of which court this case was heard in and where that court sits in the court hierarchy • Identify whether this case is civil or criminal • Identify the legal issue[s] to be decided in the case • Identify any statutes or cases considered and applied in this judgment and conduct some research into them • Identify any rules of interpretation used in this judgment • Identify any internal and/or external aids to interpretation used in this judgment • Explain how the judge uses all of this to reach a decision • Only use short quotations, to illustrate your analysis • Use the page numbers and paragraph letters to pinpoint the part of the decision you are discussing
Do NOT: • Repeat the facts of the case unnecessarily • Use long quotations from the case (just refer to the page and paragraph) • Explain what the rules of interpretation are (you can assume the marker knows what you mean by the ‘mischief rule’ etc.) • Explain other legal terms (you can assume the marker is familiar with them) • Include a bibliography in this assessment – you will include one in your final assessment