The Law A rule of conduct considered to be compulsory and to which is attached some legally recognised punishment or sanction if broken Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements- (2004) ARRTS Prints

Statute An act of parliament A law made by parliament As managers we work both a statutory and common law (made by judges) context. To gain a working knowledge of “legal things” it is necessary to first try to understand the legal terrain in a way which is understandable to non-lawyers Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements-(2004) ARRTS Prints Version 1 (Semester 2, September 2009) Page 2 of 10 Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled. The version on the website is the current

Judge-made Law Judges have been deciding on legal issues for hundreds of years These decisions have been recorded and together they form a body of law known as one of the following terms: – Common Law – Precedent Law – Case Law – Judge-made law – Un-enacted law – Example of common law decision is the Mabo case Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements-(2004) ARRTS Prints Version 1 (Semester 2, September 2009) Page 3 of 10 Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled. The version on the website is the current

Parliament-made Law A law made by the parliament is known as an Act, Statute, Legislation. Legislation is enacted to achieve one of the following: – Solve a problem (limit possession of firearms) – Give effect to party policy (alter immigration quotas) – Prevent problems (racial vilification legislation) – Consolidate common law cases (Native title Act ’93) Parliament-made law overrides common law Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements-(2004) ARRTS Prints Version 1 (Semester 2, September 2009) Page 4 of 10 Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled. The version on the website is the current

Public and Private Law Law can also be divided into public and private law Public law is about society as a whole; the law-making capacity of governments and disputes between the State and its citizens. There are four main parts to public law: – Administrative law – Constitutional law – Criminal law – Industrial law Private law deals with disputes between private citizens, e.g. property, family, succession (wills), trusts and commercial law. Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements- (2004) ARRTS Prints Version 1 (Semester 2, September 2009) Page 5 of 10 Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled. The version on the website is the current

Civil Vs Criminal Law Civil law refer to disputes between individuals, e.g. negligence, defamation, nuisance, contract and trespass. Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements-(2004) ARRTS Prints Version 1 (Semester 2, September 2009) Page 6 of 10 Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled. The version on the website is the current

The main differences between criminal and civil law include: In criminal law the State brings the action in a civil case the individual or plaintiff brings the action; The aim of criminal law is punishment, deterrence, or rehabilitation & the aim of civil law is compensation; The end result in criminal law is conviction or a penalty, in civil law it is award of damages or to stop someone from doing something; The standard of proof in a criminal case is beyond reasonable doubt in a civil case is the balance of probabilities. Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements-(2004) ARRTS Prints Version 1 (Semester 2, September 2009) Page 7 of 10 Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled. The version on the website is the current

Federal and State Laws We have both Federal (or Commonwealth) and State Laws. The Commonwealth legislates makes laws on taxation, immigration, export and foreign trade, pensions, benefits and allowances. The States legislate on such areas as juvenile justice, state education, utilities (power, water, gas) and police powers. It is possible for the Commonwealth and the State to make laws about the same subject. In this case the Commonwealth law prevails. Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements-(2004) ARRTS Prints Version 1 (Semester 2, September 2009) Page 8 of 10 Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled. The version on the website is the current

Commonwealth Legislation Applies to all Australians, for example: * Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 * Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 * Freedom of Information Act 1982 * Disability Discrimination Act 1997 * Privacy Act Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements-(2004) ARRTS Prints Version 1 (Semester 2, September 2009) Page 9 of 10 Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled. The version on the website is the current

Some hints on how to stay up to date with legal matters Wikipedia is a website that has information on any possible term, person, Act, movie, book or anything that exists. It can be accessed on Get a copy of the “Law Handbook”. The Legal services Commission (1999). Read the newspapers and keep an eye out for things that are of a legal nature And most importantly if you don’t understand something, you are probably not the only one so, ASK!!! Adapted from Meet Statutory and organisational Information Requirements-(2004) ARRTS Prints Version 1 (Semester 2, September 2009) Page 10 of 10 Disclaimer: Printed copies of this document are regarded as uncontrolled. The version on the website is the current