Working with legislation

Question 1

Types of law

Answer 1

-Statute law
(made by parliament)
-Case law
(court decisions in both civil and criminal, precedent)
-Common law
(societies understanding, upheld by courts)
-Contract law
(based on common law principles, two parties may sign a legal agreement that creates a legal agreement)
-Equity law
(justice applied by law, no unreasonable, harsh, severe or unfair outcome)

Question 2

Legislation at three levels of government

Answer 2

-Federal
(Australian competition and consumer act)
-State
(property occupations act)
-Local
(size and placement of signage)

Question 3

How legislation is made and amended in Australia

Answer 3

• First reading - presenting a bill to the house
• Second reading
• Third reading

Question 4

Finding sources of legislation

Answer 4

• Queensland legislation
• The federal register of registration
• Australian legal information institute

Question 5

What does an act contain?

Answer 5

• Contente
• Parts, divisions, subdivisions
• Sections and section headings
• Subsections
• Paragraphs and sub-paragraphs
• Example
• Marginal notes
• Footnotes
• Schedules and appendices
• Dictionary
• Punctuation

Question 6

Using rules of interpretation to gain meaning

Answer 6

-The plain meaning rule
(if the meaning of the word is the same then it will be given that plain meaning)
-The golden rule
(word has multiple meanings, consideration is given to the less ridiculous meaning)
-The mischief approach
(when the meaning seems obscure, considering what the section was aiming to achieve, taking a guess)
-The purpose approach
(last resort, considering the overall purpose of the legislation)