Professional Documents
Culture Documents
4pm, Thursday 24th March 2016, Student Service Counter, Level 2, Law
Building
Aims
To provide you with early feedback on your legal writing and critical analysis
skills;
To provide a background for seminars and a context for class discussion on
the court system;
To reflect upon and present your own understanding of the court proceedings
observed and relate these to the reading materials and class discussion;
To provide an opportunity to apply some of your newly acquired legal
research skills.
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Behaviour in Court
ENSURE that you TURN OFF your mobile phones and other electronic
devices before you enter the courtroom. You must not use your phone,
record proceedings or take photographs in the courtroom. You should
dress neatly and behave appropriately. It is customary to give a small bow
when you enter or leave a courtroom that is in session, and you should do this.
Do not speak to others while the court is in session. You should not eat nor
drink in the courtroom.
You should carry your student identification card with you when visiting the
courts. It may be a good idea to identify yourself as a law student to the Court
Officer (in a local Court) or the Sheriffs Officer in the Supreme Court and check
that it is permissible to take notes. Comply politely and promptly with any
official request to leave a court room for any reason.
Entering and leaving the courtroom should be done as discreetly as possible.
Visiting the courts with a group of up to three or four is fine, but you should
not visit individual courtrooms in large groups.
Do not discuss the cases you have observed in the foyer, lift areas of the
court, or in nearby cafes. Remember that while you are in these courtrooms to
observe, others might be participants in the proceedings. You may be
standing or sitting next to one of the parties, or an accused, or a
member of their family.
You should not interview participants nor record any of the
proceedings. You should use discretion and deference if you approach
participating lawyers. This should only be done during breaks where the
lawyers are not otherwise engaged. DO NOT INITIATE CONTACT with
judges, magistrates, witnesses, complainants or defendants. Be
cautious in your responses if you are approached by any of the participants. Do
not describe what you have just observed in a court room to anyone waiting
outside of the court room, they might be a witness waiting to give evidence.
ANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT BEHAVIOUR OF STUDENTS WILL BE TAKEN
VERY SERIOUSLY AND MAY BE REFERRED TO THE HEAD OF SCHOOL.
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The word count for the Court Report will be calculated by reference to all text in the
main body of the court report (section b). Substantive or explanatory text in the
footnotes will be included in the word count but footnotes that contain only citations
or other references are not included in the word count. Penalties for exceeding the
word limit may be applied as follows: 0-10% excess 10% of the grade awarded; 11%20% excess - 15% of the grade awarded; 21%+ excess and above - 20% of the grade
awarded.
Avoiding Plagiarism
The Law School regards plagiarism very seriously. This case note must be your own
work and all sources need to be acknowledged appropriately. To ensure that this
happens we suggest that although you might discuss this with your student
colleagues you should never swap or look at each others written work.
UNSW LAWS1052 Court Report Assignment (Combined Law Programs)
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