Diploma in Legal Studies

Course details

Overview

Know your rights and use the law as a sword and a shield.

• What can I do about neighbours trespassing, blocking my light, or making too much noise?
• What’s my comeback against a dodgy-builder, sneaky bank charges, or the travel agent who sold me a holiday from hell?
• My wife thought nothing of a fall she had in a shop, but her ankle never healed right and now it’s a year later. Can we do anything?
• Can’t I repost any gossip I like online about a foreign celebrity?
• How do I go about copyrighting/patenting my work?

Litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and compliance will all be covered, as will access to legal advice and aid and how to consult legal resources.

The rich stories behind the headlines and the gossip.

• What’s going on with the Quinn case and just what is “contempt of court”?
• Why don’t convicts receive “tougher” sentences and why doesn’t “life” mean life?
• What does all that legal Latin actually mean?
• When the news says an accused cannot be named “for legal reasons”, what are those legal reasons?
• Is an oral contract legally binding?
• What’s going on behind closed doors in the family courts?

Outline

• Week 1: Sources: Where law comes from.
• Week 2: Systems: Tribunals, courts and the professions.
• Week 3: Remedies. Timeline of a Litigation. Enforcement.
• Week 4: Criminal Law: Murder, rape… AND the exciting stuff.
• Week 5: Evidence and Sentencing: Technicalities and leniency.
• Week 6: Consumer Protection and Contract Law.
• Week 7: Business Law: Liability. Intellectual Property. Corporate Law.
• Week 8: Tort Law: Neighbours, nuisance and personal injury.
• Week 9: Law in the Headlines.
• Week 10: Reform. Comparative and Constitutional Law