Social and Community Studies – Legally, it could be you! – Civil law vs Criminal law

1. A PowerPoint designed to elaborate on the differences between criminal and civil law. I have underlined key points which the students write down in their notebooks. The main content is a definition of criminal law, some examples of criminal laws (divided into 4 categories – traffic/road laws, property, public order and people.) An explanation of where serious crimes are heard and where less serious crimes are heard and the multiple aims of punishments handed down by the courts. Civil law is then defined along with examples including negligence and defamation. This is followed by a clip from The Weekly which includes an example crime and students must determine whether this is a civil or criminal case. After this students watch a video explaining our legal rights and responsibilities (what we must do if we are questioned by police and what would be a violation of our rights). Students are to take dot point notes for discussion. Afterwards information is provided about Legal Aid (a QLD service which provides free legal advice to people unable to afford legal representation). This is followed by information about what happens when you are charged with an offence and how the Magistrates court operates. Students watch a video about how to behave in court. They also learn about jurors and how they are selected.

Part of a set of resources created for a senior Social & Community studies class in Australia (QCAA syllabus). The other resources are also available in my store – Aussie_Resources. Designed for use in 70 minute lessons. The end of term assessment for this unit was a multimodal presentation.

I pride myself on the quality of the materials I produce, I don’t charge high prices because I don’t agree with paying £10 for a word search. If you need to check before you buy, have a look at some of the free resources in my shop for a sample of the quality and depth.’