Police, Courts and Criminal Law
CCJ12
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Level of study: What does Undergraduate Level 1 mean?
Undergraduate Level 1
EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?
0.125
Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?
Web Dependent
Prerequisites: What are the prerequisites?
Availability: What is a Study period?
For enrolment (2012): For forward planning* (2013): What is Forward Planning?- SP1
- -
- SP3
- -
Duration:
13 weeks
Fee: Fees (current and planned)
- Domestic student fee:
- $795.00 (AUD)
- HECS student fee:
- $1,178.00 (AUD)
- International student fee:
- $1,020.00 (AUD)
Description
This is a core unit in the Criminology and Criminal Justice course, providing students with an overview of laws relating to Australian criminal justice processes. The unit complements Law, Government and Policy, which focuses on understanding law and how it is made by both courts and political processes. This unit looks at how law governs the way in which crime is investigated, prosecuted, adjudicated and punished, including critiques and debates about the fairness, suitability and impacts of those processes.
Prerequisites
Equivalent units
You cannot enrol in this unit if you have successfully completed any of the following unit(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
- CCJ17 — The Law of Crime
Assessment
- Assessment — Tutorial contributions (20%)
- Invigilated Exam — Exam (50%)
- Report — Court report (30%)
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this unit students will be able to demonstrate:
- understanding of the aims and functions of the criminal law and how it operates in the Australian criminal justice system
- knowledge about criminal responsibility, the elements of crimes and the classification of offences
- familiarity with the processes by which alleged offences are investigated, brought to trial and punished
- knowledge of the powers, functions and ethical responsibilities of police and other investigators, prosecutors, defence lawyers and judges in both pre-trial and trial processes
- understanding of the main rules governing the collection and admission of evidence in criminal courts
- knowledge of sentencing principles and options
- awareness of the appeals process and the problem of miscarriages of justice
- practical familiarity with criminal courts and their day-to-day operations
- ability to critically analyse the impact of criminal law processes on people affected by them.
Topics
This unit addresses the following topics.
| Number | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction: the idea and role of criminal law |
| 2 | Understanding offences and offenders |
| 3 | Police investigative powers I |
| 4 | Police investigative powers II |
| 5 | Expanding crime investigation |
| 6 | Pre-trial processes |
| 7 | The criminal trial |
| 8 | Evidence and criminal trials |
| 9 | Punishment and penalty |
| 10 | Sentencing |
| 11 | Appeals and miscarriages of justice |
| 12 | Justice and injustice |
| 13 | Review and conclusion |
Study Resources
This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:
Instructional Methods
- Discussion Forum/Discussion Board
- Online assignment submission
- Podcasting/Lecture capture
Print based materials
- Welcome Letter
Online materials
- Online Assessment
- Printable format materials
- Resources and Links
Textbooks are subject to change within the academic year. Students are advised to purchase their books no earlier than one to two months before the start of a unit.
Click on the titles of the listed books below to find out more:
Required textbooks
Recommended textbooks
There are no recommended textbooks for this unit.
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
This unit may be eligible for credit towards other courses:
- Many undergraduate courses on offer through OUA include 'open elective' where any OUA unit can be credited to the course. You need to check the Award Requirements on the course page for the number of allowed open electives and any level limitations.
- In other cases, the content of this unit might be relevant to a course on offer through OUA or elsewhere. In order to receive credit for this unit in the course you will need to supply the provider institution with a copy of the Unit Profile in the approved format, which you can download here. Note that the Unit Profile is set at the start of the year, and if textbooks change this may not match the Unibooks textbook list.
If you would like to study this unit and enrol today, add it to your Study Cart. Alternatively if you are still exploring your options, you can save this unit to review later by clicking Save to Wishlist.
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