Yr.12 Legal Studies: Crime - Role of the adversary system in achieving justice

NSW Legal Studies syllabus HSC course

Core topic: Crime

This learning activity is aligned to the syllabus 'learn to' statement:

· Discuss the role of the adversary system as a means of achieving justice.

The aim for this learning activity is to provide students with a deeper understanding of the course content through reference to either contemporary case studies, media events or amendments to legislation.

This learning activity will enhance and deepen a student's understanding of the adversarial system by initially examining an Indonesian District Court and then followed up in contrast by examining the operation of the higher courts in NSW through the lens of the court proceedings of the prosecution of Robert Xie for the 2009 murders of the Lin family. A focus for the activity will look at how both prosecutor and defence applied the adversarial approach in relation the presentation of evidence in the fourth trial of Robert Xie (2017)

The activity requires students to read reference material and to complete a series of review based questions.

This learning activity is also cross reference with syllabus outcomes as well as aligned to the relevant theme and challenge component.

The inclusion of contemporary media events and court cases is well suited to act as a supplement for student class notes.