The Legal Practitioners' Education and Admissions Council (LPEAC) sets rules for the academic requirements for admission to legal practice in South Australia. Students must demonstrate a satisfactory level of understanding and application of 11 core areas of legal knowledge.
This course covers material in the Priestley 11 subjects: “Evidence”, “Criminal Law and Procedure” and “Ethics and Professional Responsibility”. In particular, it covers the following Priestley 11 topics:

EVIDENCE
- introduction
- competence and compellability
- privilege
- the examination of witnesses
- disposition and character
- similar fact evidence
- the accused as a witness
- burden and standard of proof
- documentary evidence
- opinion evidence and prior determination
- hearsay, the exclusionary rule and the common law and statutory exceptions
- admissions and confessions in criminal cases
- illegally obtained evidence and confirmation by subsequent fact
- res gestae
- corroboration

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE
- elements of criminal procedure
- classification of offences
- process to compel appearance
- preliminary examination
- trial of indictable offences

ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Professional and personal conduct in respect of a practitioner's duty:
(a) to the law
(b) to the Courts
(c) to clients, including a basic knowledge of the principles relating to the holding of money on trust
(d) to fellow practitioners

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1	Undertake legal research at an advanced level, and evaluate and apply a diverse range of legal information to complex evidential problems.
2	Apply evidence rules in a principled and critical manner as appropriate in South Australian and Federal courts.
3	Structure and sustain effective written and oral arguments for a legal audience.
4	Exercise sound professional judgement in the application of trial and appellate litigation techniques and practice.
5	Compare and contrast the ethical roles of lawyers within South Australian and Federal courts.
6	Demonstrate advanced capacity to use feedback to inform personal and professional development.

REQUIRED RESOURCES

1. Evidence Act 1929 (SA)
2. Evidence Act 1995 (Cth)

The Course Syllabus is available online and lecture content is made available via Echo 360. Students may engage in peer to peer learning
through the online Discussion Board which is moderated by the Course Coordinator.

The course will be taught through lectures and seminars.

The lectures will focus on the core rules and principles of evidence. They will be recorded.

The workshops will focus on applying the rules of evidence to real world scenarios. They will be recorded but are unlikely to translate well to a recording as they will involve practical activities and group work.

The seminars will focus on evidential problem solving and critical thinking skills. They will not be recorded.

Formative and summative assessment tasks will be undertaken in some workshops and seminars.

Students are expected to attend lectures, seminars and workshops each week.

The University expects full-time students (ie those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies during semester. This means that in addition to lectures and seminars, students should spend time in private study  in the course across the semester – this includes reading the material, preparing for lectures and seminars and undertaking the assessment tasks, individually or in assigned practice groups.

The following is an indicative program and is subject to change.

1	Basic Concepts - Relevance & Proof
2	Evidence in Chief (XN)
3	Cross-Examination (XXN)
4	Hearsay Evidence
5	Opinion including Expert Evidence
6	Police Powers and Suspect/Defendant Rights
7	Propensity and Similar Fact Evidence
8	Discretions to Exclude Evidence
9	The Shield
10	Sexual Offences
11	Warnings, Directions and Unreliable Evidence Safeguards
12	Revision and Exam Preparation

Assessment Task	Weighting	Due dates	Task Type	Redeemable	Learning Outcomes
Written Assessment	20%	Written assessment	Individual	No	1,2,3,4
Advocacy Exercise	20%	Advocacy exercise	Individual	No	1,2,3,4
Examination	60%	Exam period	Individual	No	1-2, 5-6
Additional assessment requirements for the Honours cohort will be communicated at the beginning of the semester.

Written Assessment Exercise
A written assessment will examine students' ability to apply the substantive laws of evidence to a practical criminal law problem.

Advocacy Exercise
An advocacy exercise based on a criminal law scenario will examine students' advocacy skills and ability to apply the substantive laws of evidence and professional ethics in a practical setting.

Exam
The exam will assess advocacy skills and techniques and the substantive rules of evidence. It will be based on a set of specific questions in relation to an overraching problem question.


Additional assessment requirements for the Honours cohort will be communicated at the beginning of the semester.

Courses for which a result of conceded pass has been obtained may not be presented towards the degree requirements for the Bachelor of Laws or the Honours Degree of Bachelor of Laws programs, or any postgraduate law program, nor to satisfy prerequisite requirements within any law course.

Finality of Assessment Grades

Students are advised that Course Coordinators will not enter into negotiations of any kind with any student regarding changes to their grades. It is irrelevant, in any given circumstance, that only a minimal number of additional marks are required to inflate a student’s grade for any individual assessment item or course as a whole. Pursuant to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policyand the Adelaide Law School Assessment Policies and Procedures, grades may only be varied through the appropriate channels for academic review (such as an official re-mark).

Moderation

In accordance with the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, course coordinators ‘ensure that appropriate marking guidelines and cross-marking moderation processes across markers are in place’ in each course. Procedures adopted by Adelaide Law School to ensure consistency of marking in courses with multiple markers include:

• assurance of the qualifications of markers, and their knowledge of the content covered in each course;
• detailed marking guidelines and assessment rubrics to assist in the marking of items of assessment;
• sharing of example marked assessments at various grade bands across markers;
• reviewing of selected marked assessments from each marker by the course coordinator;
• comparison of the marks and their distribution across markers;
• automatic double-marking of all interim assessment receiving a fail grade, and of final assessments where a student’s overall result is a fail grade;
• the availability of re-marking of assessments in accordance with Adelaide Law School’s Assessment Policies and Procedures.

Approval of Results by Board of Examiners

Students are reminded that all assessment results are subject to approval (and possible moderation/change) by the Law School’s Board of Examiners. Assessment results at the University are not scaled. Under the Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, students are assessed ‘by reference to their performance against pre-determined criteria and standards … and not by ranking against the performance of the student cohort in the course’. However, under that same policy, the Board of Examiners (as the relevant Assessment Review Committee for courses at Adelaide Law School) is required to ‘ensure comparability of standards and consistency’ in assessment. On occasions, the Board of Examiners will form the view that some moderation is required to ensure the comparability of standards and consistency across courses and years, and accordingly provide fairness to all law students. All assessment results are therefore subject to approval (and possible change) until confirmed by the Board of Examiners and posted on Access Adelaide at the end of each semester.

The University Writing Centre provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the University of Adelaide.

The centre offers practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

Student Life Counselling Support

The University’s Student Life Counselling Support service provides free and confidential service to all enrolled students. We encourage you to contact the Student Life Counselling Support service on 8313 5663 to make an appointment to deal with any issues that may be affecting your study and life.

Academic Integrity

All students must be familiar with the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Academic Misconduct is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Academic Misconduct (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia. Academic Integrity is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.