LAWS11060 - Criminal Law

General Information

Unit Synopsis

LAWS11060 Criminal law provides knowledge of the procedures of and general doctrines of criminal law with emphasis on offences against the person (including murder, manslaughter and assault) and against property (including stealing) as expressed in the Queensland Criminal Code. Selective treatment is given to various defences and to the elements of criminal procedure. This unit meets the LPAB requirements for criminal law and procedure.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Corequisite: LAWS11057

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2025

Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Online

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).

Assessment Overview

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 40%
2. Examination 60%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 90.48% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 18.26% response rate.

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.

Source: SUTE feedback
Feedback
Some students commented they would like a powerpoint to read in combination with the podcast/audio lecture
Recommendation
Develop lecture videos (as an alternative to podcasts) and provide powerpoints to the students
Action Taken
Lecture videos and PowerPoints were developed for every module.
Source: SUTE feedback
Feedback
Students appreciate real world practical examples and enjoy applying the law to problem scenarios, particularly as problem questions feature on exam papers
Recommendation
Ensure real world examples continue to be incorporated into lectures and workshops. Ensure problem questions continue to be a regular feature of workshop questions in preparation for the exam and IRAC is explicitly taught as part of the workshops.
Action Taken
Problem questions were incorporated into almost all workshops and were scaffolded in terms of their complexity as students progressed across the term. Problem questions reflected the reality of legal practice, in that scenarios included both offences and defences that would be relevant at trial and also practical considerations. Problem solving was also explicitly taught with examples of how to use the IRAC methodology provided in class.
Source: SUTE comments
Feedback
Students would like further guidance on how to formulate persuasive written submissions for the bail application.
Recommendation
Increase the duration of the ALC workshop on persuasive writing and record a video on drafting conventions and tips for enhancing written submissions.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Feedback from students, SUTE data and
Feedback
Students appreciated the examples provided in class of how to break down the issues in a criminal law question and respond using the IRAC methodology
Recommendation
Provide additional written examples of the IRAC methodology being used successfully and provide breakdowns and/or flowcharts of the issues that must be addressed for complex offences/defences.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Feedback from students, staff reflection
Feedback
Students benefited from the ALC sessions on exam preparation and the exam writing practice sessions
Recommendation
Retain the integration of the ALC's exam preparation sessions and retain exam writing practice sessions to provide students with experience of handwriting answers under time pressure.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Analyse and explain the elements of the criminal offence or defence, and the onus and burden of proof
  2. Research and apply principles of criminal law in Queensland as expressed in legislation and case law to the analysis of criminal law problems
  3. Apply skills in communication, critical legal thinking and reasoning.

This unit satisfies the Priestley 11 requirements for Criminal Law as approved by the Legal Practitioners Admissions Board.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Written Assessment • •
2 - Examination • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Communication • • •
2 - Problem Solving • •
3 - Critical Thinking •
4 - Information Literacy • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10