Court Report
Part One (15 marks)
What do prosecutors need to prove in the courtroom for a defendant to be convicted of a crime?
(2 marks)
What are the differences between summary and indictable offences?
(3 marks)
What is a legal ‘defence’? Describe two common exculpatory defences.
(3 marks)
Describe the different courts in your State’s criminal court hierarchy, and explain their roles and powers.
(3 marks)
Briefly describe the following court hearings. What is the main purpose of each?
Summary Trial
Committal Hearing
Jury Trial
Sentencing Hearing
(4 marks)
Part Two (25 marks):
What charge is being laid against the defendant? Is this a summary or indictable offence? How do you know this? (You can describe the offence using words from the video; you do not need to identify a section of real legislation).
(2 marks)
For the defendant to be convicted of this offence, what would the jury members need to be satisfied of?
(2 marks)
Identify who was present in the courtroom and explain the role you observed them perform.
(3 marks)
Do you think that placing the accused in different seating positions (i.e. glass dock, regular dock, bar table) impacted on the fairness of the hearing?
(4 marks)
What evidence has been presented by the prosecution? How does this suggest that the elements of the crime have been proven?
(4 marks)
How does the defence lawyer argue that her client is not guilty? Based on the information available, could any exculpatory defences be raised to deny or limit his criminal responsibility?
(5 marks)
Define the concepts of due process and the rule of law. What evidence of these did you see in the video? Do you think the accused received a fair trial?
(5 marks)
Part Three (10 marks):
Using the ISAAC method, analyse two issues from the following statement of facts. You do not need to copy out this statement of facts in your assignment.
(5 marks for each