The Legal Practitioners' Education and Admissions Council (LPEAC) sets rules for the academic requirements for admission to legal practice in South Australia. Students must demonstrate a satisfactory level of understanding and application of 11 core areas of legal knowledge.
This course covers material in the Priestley 11 subject “Evidence”. In particular, it covers the following Priestley 11 topics:
· Introduction.
· Competence and compellability.
· The accused’s privilege against self-incrimination.
· The examination of witnesses.
· Disposition and character.
· Similar fact evidence.
· The accused as a witness.
· Burden and standard of proof.
· Documentary evidence.
· Opinion evidence and prior determination.
· Hearsay (the exclusionary rule and the common law and statutory exceptions).
· Admissions and confessions in criminal cases.
· Illegally obtained evidence and confirmation by subsequent fact.
· Res gestae.
· Corroboration.

The specific learning objectives of the course are the development of:
1. an understanding of the process of proving facts within the common law court system.
2. a principled and critical understanding of the application of evidential rules in South Australian and Federal courts.
3. a critical and practical appreciation of the ethical roles of lawyers within that system.
4. a practical understanding of trial processes.
5. critical thinking and problem solving skills.
6. cognitive skills to analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources to identify and address as appropriate evidential issues.
7. skills to work both independently and cooperatively in a professional environment.
8. the capacity to work in a professional and ethical relationship with both clients and colleagues.
9. proficiency in legal research techniques.
10. oral and written communication skills of a high order.

Selected course materials will be made available on MyUni. This will include all seminar guides, assessment information and instructions, audio recordings of lectures (where lectures were recorded) and all lecture handouts. Tools for individual preparation, practical exercises and some assessment exercises will also be offered online throughout the semester. Students are expected to check MyUni regularly to keep up to date with these materials and additional learning resources throughout the semester.

The course will be taught through lectures supported by interactive problem-solving seminars and practical exercises developing primary material, as well as independent study/preparation seminars.

Students will be expected to attend a two hour lecture and either one or two two-hour seminars each week. This will amount to a total of 24 lecture hours and 36 seminar hours during the semester. A detailed week by week schedule for the course is attached to this course profile.

The University expects full-time students (ie those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies during semester. This means that in addition to lectures and seminars, students should spend 19 hours per week in private study in the course across the semester – this includes reading the material, preparing for lectures and seminars and undertaking the assessment tasks, individually or in assigned practice groups.

WEEK + TOPIC	Lecturer	Seminar 1	Seminar 2	Assessment
Week 1 Introduction to evidence, party presentation and prosecution	Nigel Wilson	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS Discussion of process, terminology, relevance, admissibility, discretions and proof. Introduction to advocacy ethics.	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS Incidence of evidential and persuasive burdens of proof, presumptions, no case to answer and judicial notice. Practitioner’s duty to the court.	ADVOCACY EXERCISES (INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT) 30% Each student must complete two advocacy exercises during the semester including oral and written components. Each of these exercises will be marked and each will be worth 15% of the student’s final grade. Plagiarism in either the oral or written aspect of the Advocacy assessment will result in the loss of the entire mark for that exercise. DUE DATE: The advocacy exercises are due at various dates during semester. Further information about these exercises will be provided on MyUni.
Week 2 Testimony in chief and preparing a case for trial	Nigel Wilson	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS Competence, compellability, memory, hostile witnesses, prior statements. Ethics and preparing witnesses.	NO FORMAL SEMINAR All seminar groups to prepare for Practical Exercise 1.
Week 3 Advocacy ethics and opening address	Nigel Wilson	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE 1	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE 1
Week 4 Cross examination and re-examination	Nigel Wilson	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS The rule in Browne v Dunn, credit, finality, using documents.	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE 2
Week 5 Presenting real and documentary evidence	Nigel Wilson	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS Authentication, best evidence, views, introduction to hearsay use of documents and statutory exceptions to the hearsay rule.	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE 2
Week 6 Expert evidence	Nigel Wilson	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS Expert evidence and ethical implications of the role of the expert.	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE 3
Week 7 Hearsay – the exclusionary rule	Nigel Wilson	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS The exclusionary rule against hearsay evidence.	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE 3
Week 8 Hearsay – the exceptions	Nigel Wilson	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS The exceptions to hearsay.	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE 4	ASSIGNMENT 1 (INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT) 20% - Advice on evidence due 2.00pm on Monday 23 September 2013
MID-SEMESTER BREAK
Week 9 Protecting the accused 1	David Caruso	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS Practitioner ethics and the guilty client. Silence and confessions.	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE 4
Week 10 Protecting the accused 2	David Caruso	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS Bad character evidence (evidence in chief)	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE
Week 11 Protecting the accused 3	David Caruso	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS Cross examining on bad character; good character and its rebuttal	HALF OF SEMINAR GROUPS ATTEND CLASS (DETAILS TO BE ADVISED ON MYUNI) FOR PRACTICAL EXERCISE 5
Week 12 Unreliable evidence	David Caruso	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS Admissibility and directions regarding evidence given by accomplices, children, victims of sexual assault, identification evidence.	ALL SEMINAR GROUPS PERFORM PRACTICAL EXERCISE 6 Please note – extra rooms will be made available for this exercise. Details of the rooms are available on the Evidence seminar schedule on MyUni.
Week 13 / study break
EXAM PERIOD – examination worth 50%

There are no additional requirements for completion of this course other than described elsewhere in this document.

Assessment Item	% of final marks	Due dates	Group or individual assessment	Redeemable	Learning Objectives
Attendance and satisfactory participation at seminars	Pass/Fail		Individual	No	1-10
Written advice on evidence	20%	22 September 2014 at 2.00pm	Individual	No	1-10
Two advocacy exercises across the duration of the semester including oral and written components	30%	Exercises undertaken at various dates during semester. Further information to be provided on MyUni.	Individual	No	1-10
Examination	50%	Exam period	Individual	No	1-10

Students who miss more than THREE (3) seminars during the course of the semester will be unable to pass the course.

Attendance and satisfactory participation in seminars is compulsory. Students who do not meet these requirements will not be eligible to take the exam. Responsibility for monitoring attendance and participation is set out below.

1. Attendance and satisfactory participation at seminars (Pass/fail)

See further information provided below. 

2. Assignment one (20%)
Individually assessed written advice on evidence assignment. Assignment instructions for the advice on evidence will be posted on MyUni.

DUE DATE: 2.00pm on 22 September 2014

3. Advocacy exercises (30%)

Each student must complete two advocacy exercises during the semester including oral and written components. Each of these exercises will be marked and each will be worth 15% of the student’s final grade.

DUE DATE: The advocacy exercises are due at various dates during semester. Further information about these exercises will be provided on MyUni.

5. Examination (50%)

To be held during the examination period. The exam will be a minimum of 2 hours in duration.

Attendance and satisfactory participation at seminars

Students who miss more than THREE (3) seminars during the course of the semester will be unable to pass the course.

Students may complete make-up work for seminars missed for compassionate or medical reasons at the discretion of seminar leaders. The precise nature of this make-up work will depend on the seminar missed and will be negotiated with the seminar leader.

This subject prepares students for legal practice in South Australia and elsewhere in Australia and is a prerequisite for admission to the Bar in SA. It is designed to introduce students to the theory and practice of evidential rules and ethical principles. These will be further studied at postgraduate level prior to admission as a legal practitioner. Skills such as critical evaluation, exercising legal and forensic judgment, appreciation of the operation of judicial discretion, and the capacity to communicate legal argument clearly and effectively are critical to legal practice in this area.

The appreciation of legal ethical principles is also an important graduate attribute. Whilst legal ethics are couched in absolute terms, in practical application, there is considerable subjectivity at play. Seminars in this subject make regular reference to ethical dilemmas, and draw on students to engage in evaluation and resolution of such dilemmas by reference to given principles, and legal and social outcomes. The practice of law requires lawyers to be able to identify and resolve such issues, and this is almost always only achievable by consultation with peers and other professionals. Including such issues in seminars, and assessing students’ capacity to approach them in a professional and effective manner, is a necessary aspect of teaching future legal professionals, and is best achieved by direct observation and participation in class. The seminars are predicated on the assumption that students have undertaken given preparation, and approach the subject matter at a relatively sophisticated level based on this preparation. Individual or small groups of students will often be asked to prepare issues for discussion, to undertake small research exercises, or to otherwise contribute to future seminars. Activities of this nature are an essential part of being an effective professional in the legal field. Small class sizes (24) and a strong focus on interactive learning make methodology such as this an effective way of developing students’ strategic and forensic thinking skills.

For these reasons attendance and satisfactory participation in seminars is compulsory. Students who do not meet these requirements will not be eligible to take the exam. Responsibility for monitoring attendance and participation is set out below.

Models of class participation are varied to meet different educational styles, cultural approaches, and gender implications. They include:

• small group discussions (groups of 4 – 6) with different students invited to convene and record discussion. Seminar leaders moving between groups and assisting with discussion.
• Large group discussion with emphasis on directed questions, and reporting on preparatory work done for seminars.
• Working in pairs on case evaluation and discussion.
• Students being given specific small preparatory tasks for the seminar, so that they have the opportunity to prepare and be confident of delivery and are not “put on the spot”.
• Emphasis on collaboration and support – students expected to assist each other in answering questions or developing themes in class discussions.

It is expected that seminar leaders will identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and utilise these strategies so as to encourage development and confidence and ensure equality of participation.

Responsibility for monitoring attendance and participation is shared between seminar leaders and students as follows:

Attendance- Students who miss more than 3 seminars during the semester MUST contact their seminar leader to establish whether make-up work for the missed seminars is possible. IT IS EACH STUDENT’S OWN RESPONSIBILITY TO MONITOR THEIR ATTENDANCE AND ENSURE THEY HAVE SATISFIED THE MINIUMUM ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT.

Satisfactory participation- If students have satisfied the attendance requirement, but have failed to satisfactorily participate in seminars, this will be brought to their attention by the SEMINAR LEADER. The seminar leader and student will then discuss the participation requirements of the course and any obstacles to participation by the student. If appropriate, additional work (as negotiated by the seminar leader and student) may be completed by the student to supplement their participation.

Students must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.

All individual assignments must be attached to an Assignment Cover Sheet which must be signed and dated by the student before submission. Lecturers will withhold students’ results until such time as the student has signed the Assignment Cover Sheet.

Markers can refuse to accept assignments which do not have a signed acknowledgement of the University’s policy on plagiarism (refer to policy on plagiarism below).

Late submission penalty – assignments submitted after the due time and date without an extension granted by the Course Coordinator will be subject to a penalty of 5% of the total mark possible will be deducted for every 24 hours or part thereof that it is late, including each day on a weekend. For example, an essay that is submitted after the due date and time but within the first 24 hour period, and that has been graded at 63%, will have 5% deducted, for a final grade of 58%. An essay that is more than 24 hours late will lose 10%, etc. Hard copy submissions made after 5.00pm on a Friday will be assumed to have been submitted on the next business day and will be penalised accordingly. Extensions on medical or compassionate grounds will be in accordance with University Policy (see below).

Word length penalty - assignments which exceed the allocated length (word length or page limit) will be subject to a penalty of 5% of total marks available per page or per 100 words or part thereof (eg. an essay with a 3000 word limit which is graded 63% will have 5% deducted if it is 3020 words in length, for a final grade of 58% and will have 10% if it is 3120 words in length, for a final grade of 53% etc). Words are calculated including all footnotes and headings within the text but excluding cover page information. Quotations and all referencing information are included in the word count.

Assignments may be required to be submitted electronically as well as in hard copy. Instructions about any electronic submission requirements will be provided with the assignment instructions.

All written work in the Law School is required to comply with the approved Law School style guide, The Australian Guide to Legal Citation (see 3.1 above under References).
The quality of English expression is considered to be an integral part of the assessment process. Marks may be deducted from assessment because of poor expression, incorrect grammar, typographical errors etc. Unless instructed otherwise, please submit assignments in printed form, on A4 size paper, double spaced and with a margin of at least 2.5 cm. Assessment work that is not submitted in this form may not be accepted, or may contain no assessment comments.


Assignments will be returned to students within 3 weeks of the due date with written feedback. Students will be notified by email when assignments are ready for collection from the Law School Front Office.

Courses for which a result of conceded pass has been obtained may not be presented towards the degree requirements for the Bachelor of Laws or the Honours Degree of Bachelor of Laws programs, or any postgraduate law program, nor to satisfy prerequisite requirements within any law course.

The University Writing Centre provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the University of Adelaide.

Practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

For more information please check out the Writing Centre website at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/

Further information regarding the Law School Policies and Procedures in relation to Supplementary Assessment, Extensions, and Remarks etc can be found at:

https://unified.adelaide.edu.au/group/law-school/policies-and-procedures

Plagiarism and other forms of cheating

Plagiarism is a serious act of academic misconduct. All students must be familiar with the Adelaide Law School Enrolment Guide 2013, and should note in particular the sections relating to plagiarism, grievance procedures and academic conduct within the Law School and the University.

Plagiarism is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Please be aware that “academic dishonesty” (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to refuse to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia.

Academic honesty is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.