Legislation crosses all boundaries of legal doctrine; there is virtually no field of the law that is not occupied by legislation in some shape or form. Similarly, there are many disciplines besides the law itself in which legislation is an object of study. From philosophy of law (jurisprudence), to sociology, politics and cultural studies (particularly interdisciplinary studies of law and literature), legislation is closely observed and analysed in the academic world.
Modern-day legal practice and academic legal study require expertise in working with legislation. Yet little attention has been paid to giving law students tools to understand the way in which legislation comes into being, and how it is interpreted. This course aims, in some small degree, to remedy that deficiency.
Principal topics covered in the course include:
1. What is legislation?
2. The role of the legislative drafter
3. Legislative drafting techniques
4. The role of parliamentary scrutiny committees
5. Legislative interpretation in the context of legislative drafting
6. Delegated legislation and Commonwealth legislative instruments
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Identify, analyse and reflect on the different roles played by legislation in effecting regulatory and policy objectives and the influence these roles have in the approach to legislative drafting
- Identify, analyse and reflect on the different influences on approaches to legislative drafting, including the role of parliamentary scrutiny committees, the approach of the courts to statutory interpretation, and interpretative Acts and Acts of general application.
- Choose and apply a range of legislative drafting techniques to assist in the drafting of legislation and legislative instruments.
- Examine, interpret and distinguish instruments of legislative character and the different ways in which that distinction is important, including the role of judicial scrutiny of those instruments.
Indicative Assessment
- Class participation (10) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Drafting exercise (20) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Research essay, or alternatively, drafting exercise and take home assignment (70) [LO 1,2,3,4]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
Classes offered in non-standard sessions will be taught on an intensive base with compulsory contact hours (approximately 26 hours of face to face teaching). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours. Classes offered during semester periods are expected to have 3 contact hours per week.
Click here for the LLM Masters Program timetable.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
The prescribed text for this course is:- Cook C et al, Laying Down the Law 8th ed.
LexisNexis, Sydney, 2012.
Preliminary Reading
Students must rely on the approved Class Summary which will be posted to the Programs and Courses site approximately 2 weeks prior to the commencement of the course.
An e-brick will be available on the Wattle course site.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 3
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2019 | $3840 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2019 | $5460 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Spring Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8616 | 11 Oct 2019 | 11 Oct 2019 | 25 Oct 2019 | 06 Dec 2019 | In Person | View |