Premium Essay

Legt1710 Assignment 1

In:

Submitted By jessicagrace
Words 1322
Pages 6
LEGT1710: Business and the Law
Part One
The Australian legal system operates under the theory that there is a separation of powers among the three divisions of government. The doctrine of the separation of powers was instigated to divide the institutions of government into three separate entities; legislative, executive and judicial. Each entity has different responsibilities; the legislative (parliament) is the supreme law-maker, and responsible for making the law. The executive (administration) administers laws made by parliament, and the judiciary, or courts, enforce and interpret the laws. As a result, the powers and functions of each branch are supposedly separate, allowing no single entity to establish complete authority, while each remain interdependent on one another. This ensures that there are checks and balances on authority, placing limits on what each institution can do, guaranteeing the prevention of absolutism or corruption and certifying the protection of individual rights.
However, under the Westminster System, this separation is not in complete operation. In reality, the legislature and executive are not entirely separated. As the ministers, government departments and agencies are elected from, and consequently accountable to the parliament, there is a significant amount of interconnection between the two branches. This embodies the doctrine of responsible government; a system of government that exemplifies parliamentary accountability. Conversely, there is a more distinct separation of the judiciary from the legislative and executive institutions.
Part Two The doctrine of precedent dictates that a court is bound to follow previous decisions made by higher courts in the same hierarchy. It is critical to be aware of the court hierarchy in order to understand the operation of precedent, as a precedent is only binding if it was made by a court in

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Legt1710 Assignment 1

...There are several legislative and judicial interpretations for what common law is. The most common expression can be interpreted as the combination of statute law, which is created by State and Federal parliaments and other government bodies which is known as delegated legislation, and judge made law, which is written by judges in courts. The common law system originally developed in England and later being inherited by Australia in 1788. However, statute law always overrules common law when there is a clash between them. In addition, the common law can be further classified into two aspects, civil law and criminal law. “Civil law involves matters between person and person regarding the enforcement of rights and the carrying out of obligations” while civil case only results in compensations for the person who wins and liabilities for the person who lost. On the other side, criminal law contains all statute and case law in conducting a certain offence. It is enforced by government and concerned on punishment. Furthermore, with the growing concern over the inflexibility and rigidity of common law, equity has been developed by the Court of Chancery as the supplement of common law rules and procedures in two types of equitable remedies: injunction and specific performance. However, equity does not apply to criminal law as it only focuses on remedies and money damages. The main function of judges is to interpret and apply the law to each case. However, judicial decisions made by...

Words: 1001 - Pages: 5