LAWS101-15W (C) Whole Year 2015

Legal System: Legal Method and Institutions

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 23 February 2015
End Date: Sunday, 15 November 2015
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 8 March 2015
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 6 September 2015

Description

The course aims to provide a foundation in the skills of legal method, comprising case analysis, statutory interpretation and legal reasoning. It also introduces , and gives a descriptive outline of, the legal systems in New Zealand and England, including the structure of the courts, the sources of law, the classification of substantive law, dispute resolution and legal services.

The objectives of Laws 101 are to provide an introduction to:
•  New Zealand's domestic and international legal framework;
•  New Zealand's contemporary legal institutions; and
•  the techniques of case analysis, statutory interpretation and legal reasoning.

Learning Outcomes

  • A successful student will, by the end of this course, be able to demonstrate an understanding of the New Zealand legal system, including the:
  •  sources of law;
  •  structure of the courts;
  •  role of legal services;
  •  role of dispute resolution;
  •  impact of English law and international law;

    and of the techniques of case analysis, statutory interpretation and legal reasoning.

Co-requisites

Timetable Note

The stipulated rooms have only sufficient seats for students allocated for each lecture stream at enrolment. Serious seating problems will arise if students arbitrarily shift streams.
TUTORIALS
Tutorials in Laws 101 will be held according to the timetable in the "Laws 101 Tutorial Book".  Enrolment in Tutorials will be advised via email closer to the start of the course.

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Rhonda Powell

Lecturers

Simon Dorset , Che Ekaratne , Henry Holderness , Karen Scott and Debra Wilson

Guest Lecturer

David Rowe

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Mid-Year Test One 10%
Mid-Year Test Two 18 Aug 2015 10%
Online Quiz One 04 May 2015 5%
Online Quiz Two 20 Jul 2015 5%
Online Quiz Three 17 Aug 2015 5%
Tutorial Attendance 5%
Final Examination 60%


Each student’s final mark is arrived at by a combination of marks for in-term assessment(s) and the final examinations.  The assessment details will be advised at the commencement of the course.

NOTE: Assignments, tests and examinations will be assessed only once. Resubmissions or resits are not permitted.

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

A Conte; An Introduction to International Law ; LexisNexis, Wellington, 2006.

D Webb, K Sanders & P Scott; The New Zealand legal system: structures and processes ; 5th ed; LexisNexis, Wellington, 2010.

G Morris; Law Alive: The New Zealand Legal System in Context ; 3rd ed; Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2015.

J Burrows & R Carter; Statute Law in New Zealand ; 4th ed; LexisNexis, Wellington, 2009.

J Farrar; Legal Reasoning ; Pyrmont, Thomson Reuters, 2010.

R Krever and others; Mastering law studies and law exam techniques ; 8th ed; LexisNexis, Butterworths, Chatswood, 2014.

R Scragg; The principles of legal method in New Zealand ; 2nd ed; Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, 2009.

R Scragg (ed); Legal Writing: A Complete Guide for a Career in Law ; LexisNexis, 2015.

S Penk & M-R Russell; New Zealand Legal Method Handbook ; Thomson Reuters, 2014.

S Strong; How to Write Law Essays and Exams ; 4th ed; Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014.

All recommended texts will be available in the library.  Students are not required to purchase any particular text.  The course co-ordinator will provide an introduction to the recommended texts at the start of the course.

Notes

Successful completion of this course makes students eligible for consideration for selection for Laws 200 courses.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,475.00

International fee $6,900.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Faculty of Law .

All LAWS101 Occurrences

  • LAWS101-15W (C) Whole Year 2015