Overview
LAWS13010 Evidence and Proof examines the major features of evidence law and procedure, both statutory and common law, and the major sources of judicial interpretation relevant to a general study of the role, sources and foundation of the law of evidence and a trial procedure, of pre-trial obligations and of rules concerning the burden and standard of proof. Specific topics include: The relevant sources of the law of evidence and procedure; fair trials, proof and adversarialism, including principles underpinning accusatorial justice; Evidentiary issues to be addressed before trial: disclosure, notices and requests; forms of evidence; evidentiary principles and rules, and exceptions to the rules; the bases for privilege including legal professional and client privilege; judicial warnings, comment and directions; and mandatory and discretionary exclusions and the limitations on evidence. This unit meets the LPAB requirements for evidence. This unit also carries content to support Criminal Procedure.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: 48 credit point of law
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2022
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Unit evaluation data
Students were generally pleased with the timely release of results and comments were made for more notice in relation to final assessment task/take home paper
Efforts should be made to always release assessment results for the first and second assessment tasks within 2 weeks of the deadline and students should be well informed of when assessment results would be available from the outset. Students should also be encouraged to actively participate in the Zoom Workshop sessions.
Feedback from Email
Lecture recording for students requiring hearing aid.
There was a student who complained about audio quality of recording and identified this as an issue in a few of the units he was taking. All recordings from Term 3 will be accompanied by transcripts to enhance students' accessibility.
Feedback from Unit evaluation
There was a suggestion for more application to real life situations
The course is already substantially designed to reflect a wide range of real life circumstances of relevance to Evidence Law. There is however room for improvement in this area. Given the very practical oriented nature of the course, future iterations of the course will tilt more towards practical application, real life scenarios and practice-oriented assessments.
- Interpret and apply common law and statutory rules of evidence in the Queensland and Commonwealth jurisdictions, including indigenous perspectives
- Identify and discuss ethical challenges in the application of Evidence Law, particularly in relation to cross-examination technique, and the use of privilege
- Critically analyse a body of evidence and discuss its admissibility and probative value
- Research and present relevant cases and statutory sources, to utilise evidence law and its authoritative interpretation to respond to authentic legal problems
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||
| 3 - Take Home Exam - 60% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - First Nations Knowledges | ||||
| 11 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 20% | |||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 20% | |||||||||||
| 3 - Take Home Exam - 60% | |||||||||||
Textbooks
Queensland Evidence Law
- 5th Edition (2020)
- Authors: David Field
- LexisNexis
- Chatswood Chatswood , NSW , Australia
- ISBN: 9780409350401
- Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th ed
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
o.owoeye@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 07 Mar 2022Module/Topic
Introduction: Nature and sources of evidence law
Onus and Standards of Proof
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapter 1
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 2
Begin Date: 14 Mar 2022Module/Topic
Relevance and Admissibility
Presumptions
Judicial Notice
Judicial Discretion
Judicial Notice
Judicial Discretion
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapters 1 & 2.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 3
Begin Date: 21 Mar 2022Module/Topic
Methods of Proof
Competence and Compellability
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapters 3, 4 & 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 4
Begin Date: 28 Mar 2022Module/Topic
Oral Evidence
Privilege
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapters 5 & 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 5
Begin Date: 04 Apr 2022Module/Topic
Examination of Witnesses
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapter 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 11 Apr 2022Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 6
Begin Date: 18 Apr 2022Module/Topic
The Rule against Hearsay
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapter 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 7
Begin Date: 25 Apr 2022Module/Topic
Exceptions to the Hearsay Rule
(Common Law, Statutory, Res Gestae)
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapters 9 & 10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 8
Begin Date: 02 May 2022Module/Topic
Admissions and Confessions
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapter 12
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 9
Begin Date: 09 May 2022Module/Topic
Documentary and Real Evidence
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapter 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 10
Begin Date: 16 May 2022Module/Topic
Circumstantial and Character Evidence
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapters 3 & 8.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 11
Begin Date: 23 May 2022Module/Topic
Opinion Evidence
Chapter
David Field, Queensland Evidence Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2020), Chapter 11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 12
Begin Date: 30 May 2022Module/Topic
Criminal procedure and Evidence
Chapter
Refer to Week 12 Study Guide
Events and Submissions/Topic
Review/Exam Week
Begin Date: 06 Jun 2022Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Exam Week
Begin Date: 13 Jun 2022Module/Topic
Take Home Examination
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
This assessment is in the form of a research essay and it is designed to test students' knowledge of the course based on topics covered in the first 2 weeks of the term. You will be required to write a short research paper on issues covered in the first two weeks of the unit. The word count should not exceed 1500 words.
Week 4 Friday (1 Apr 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Vacation Week Friday (15 Apr 2022)
| Mark | General Criteria |
| 85%+ | Excellent writing style – concise, clear and well-organised. Appropriate structure – including strong introduction, logically constructed body and conclusion. Clearly identifies scope of topic. Displays very high-level understanding and analysis of the law of evidence as it applies to all of the issues raised in the question. Presents a compelling reasoned argument supported with strong authority and sophisticated engagement with the literature. Very few or no spelling or grammatical errors. Very few or no errors in referencing style. Displays excellent research skills. |
| 75-84.5% | Very good writing style, with only a few expression issues. The assignment is logical and structured. Keeps to task after identifying the topic clearly and accurately. Displays high level of understanding and analysis of the law of evidence as it applies to most of the issues raised in the question. Presents a reasoned argument, largely supported by good authority and sophisticated engagement with the literature. Few spelling and grammatical errors and few errors in referencing style. Displays very good research skills. |
| 65-74.5% | Good writing style. May be some grammar and spelling errors and/or some errors in referencing. Defines topic adequately. Does not include much in the way of extraneous material. Demonstrates a good understanding and analysis of the law of evidence as it applies to some of the issues raised in the question but at times addresses them superficially or gives them inappropriate weight. Some gaps in reasoning, but largely supported by good authority and good engagement with the literature. Displays good research skills. |
| 50-64.5% | Generally adequate writing style. Some grammar and spelling errors and/or some errors in referencing. Attempt to define topic but sometimes fails to keep to task. Inclusion of extraneous unnecessary material. Demonstrates an adequate understanding and analysis of the law of evidence as it applies to some of the issues raised in the question. At times the analysis is incorrect, and although there may be adequate engagement with the literature there are gaps in reasoning and at times the issues identified need to be addressed in more depth. Largely descriptive with little analysis. Too much reliance on secondary sources. Displays adequate research skills. |
| <50% | Poor writing style, poorly organised and difficult to understand manner of expression. Long convoluted sentence structure, numerous grammar and spelling errors. Numerous errors in referencing. Inadequately defines topic. The assignment may be significantly shorter than required length. Displays fundamental flaws in understanding of the law of evidence. Displays misunderstanding of the issues raised in the question and engages superficially (eg. By only repeating material from study guide/lecture material). Research skills require improvement. Inadequate research demonstrated, insufficient or incorrect authority – either due to lack of authority or reliance on inappropriate authorities. Largely descriptive effort with very little analysis and inadequate engagement with the literature. |
- Interpret and apply common law and statutory rules of evidence in the Queensland and Commonwealth jurisdictions, including indigenous perspectives
- Identify and discuss ethical challenges in the application of Evidence Law, particularly in relation to cross-examination technique, and the use of privilege
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Cross Cultural Competence
2 Written Assessment
This task will test students' knowledge of topics covered in Weeks 3 to 6 and it will be made up of hypothetical problem-based questions. You will be required to solve the problem questions using your knowledge of evidence law with the aid of both primary and secondary legal sources. The word count should be no more than 1500 words.
Week 7 Friday (29 Apr 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 9 Friday (13 May 2022)
| Mark | General Criteria |
| 85%+ | Excellent writing style – concise, clear, logical and well-organised. You have identified all the correct issues, demonstrated an exceptional understanding of the relevant law (and always support your accurate statements of law with the most appropriate authority); applied the law to the facts in a manner that is outstandingly thorough, precise, and focused; arguing with clarity; and including in your answer an insightful analysis of the more difficult or obscure aspects of the problem. Very few or no spelling or grammatical errors. Very few or no errors in referencing style. Displays excellent research skills. |
| 75-84.5% | Very good writing style, with only a few expression issues. You have identified the correct issues frequently, have explained the relevant law thoroughly and precisely (frequently supporting your statements of law with the most appropriate authority); applied the law to the facts of the problem in a way that demonstrates an ability to very competently use the law to solve problems; and made a clear argument. The assignment is logical and structured. Few spelling and grammatical errors and few errors in referencing style. Displays very good research skills. |
| 65-74.5% | Good writing style. You have identified most of the correct issues, have explained the relevant law thoroughly and precisely (usually supporting your statements of law with the most appropriate authority); applied the law to the facts of the problem in a way that demonstrates an ability to competently use the law to solve problems; and made an appropriate argument. May be some grammar and spelling errors and/or some errors in referencing. Displays good research skills. |
| 50-64.5% | Generally adequate writing style. Some grammar and spelling errors and/or some errors in referencing. You have identified the main issues, but at times you have dealt with irrelevant issues or expressed them inaccurately or unclearly or in insufficient depth; you have explained the main relevant laws (usually supported by relevant, but not necessarily the most appropriate authority); made a satisfactory attempt to apply the law to the facts of the problem (but sometimes inconsistently); and made a competent argument. Displays adequate research skills. |
| <50% | Poor writing style, poorly organised and difficult to understand manner of expression. Long convoluted sentence structure, numerous grammar and spelling errors. Numerous errors in referencing. The assignment may be significantly shorter than required length. You missed the main issues and have explained the relevant law in a way that is completely or partially incorrect; you may have misunderstood the facts or failed to satisfactorily apply the law to the facts of the problem; and/or presented an unjustified, illogical, inappropriate or impractical conclusion. Research skills require improvement. |
- Critically analyse a body of evidence and discuss its admissibility and probative value
- Research and present relevant cases and statutory sources, to utilise evidence law and its authoritative interpretation to respond to authentic legal problems
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
3 Take Home Exam
The final assessment will evaluate student's general knowledge of the law of evidence through mostly hypothetical problem questions.
• Submissions after the deadline has passed will not be accepted.
• Failure to submit by the deadline will automatically result in a mark of zero for this assessment as the paper will not be marked.
• Extensions are not available for this take home paper.
Take home paper due date to be advised.
Results to be released following certification of grades.
This assessment will be assessed according to the following criteria: quality of the statement of the legal issue(s) (10%), and rules/legal principles (30%); correct and thorough analysis and application of the rules and legal principles to the legal issue(s) (40%); well thought-out conclusion (10%), and quality of the language usage and observance of proper structure, format, and instructions (10%).
- Interpret and apply common law and statutory rules of evidence in the Queensland and Commonwealth jurisdictions, including indigenous perspectives
- Identify and discuss ethical challenges in the application of Evidence Law, particularly in relation to cross-examination technique, and the use of privilege
- Critically analyse a body of evidence and discuss its admissibility and probative value
- Research and present relevant cases and statutory sources, to utilise evidence law and its authoritative interpretation to respond to authentic legal problems
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
