Students

LAWS3000 – Constitutional Law

2025 – Session 1, Online-scheduled-weekday

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Co-Convenor (weeks 1-7)
Catherine Greentree
Contact via iLearn
See iLearn for consultation
Co-Convenor (weeks 8-13)
Jemimah Roberts
Contact via iLearn
See iLearn for consultation
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
20cp from (LAWS2000 or LAWS2100 or LAWS2200 or LAWS2300 or LAWS2400 or LAWS2500)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit introduces students to fundamental principles of constitutional law and practice in Australia, including the basic structures of representative and responsible government, the structure and content of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia and the relationship between the Commonwealth and the States. The unit places constitutional principles and doctrines in a wider context by exploring some of the questions that arise in relation to the framework for law and government in Australia. These include: federalism; democracy and citizenship; the rule of law; parliamentary sovereignty; and the relationships among the legislative, executive and judicial powers.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

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

  • ULO1: Analyse central constitutional law concepts, structural features, and implications arising from the constitutional text.
  • ULO2: Identify constitutional law principles within cases.
  • ULO3: Assess different theories of constitutional interpretation and understand their relationship to different doctrinal positions.
  • ULO4: Evaluate what is necessary for a constitution, assessing current deficiencies and strengths in the Commonwealth Constitution.
  • ULO5: Apply constitutional law to new fact problems.
  • ULO6: Communicate, interact and collaborate professionally and effectively in verbal and non-verbal contexts across diverse settings.
  • ULO7: Work independently, meet deadlines, take initiative and be adaptable to diverse and changing environments.

General Assessment Information

All written assessments submitted electronically must be submitted through the link provided in iLearn. This unit will utilise Turnitin plagiarism detection software. Students should carefully check that they submit the correct file for an assessment, as re-submissions will not be accepted after the due date and time, including instances where students upload an incorrect file in error.

The design, moderation and feedback of all assessments is in accordance with the Macquarie University Assessment Procedure (link provided under ‘Policies and Procedures’ below).

Late Submission Policy

A maximum penalty of five (5) percentage points of the total possible marks will be applied per day to late submissions, for up to a maximum of seven calendar days. Tasks that have not been submitted within the maximum number of additional late days will receive a mark of zero. This provision does not apply to online exams or other assessment with a time limit of less than 24 hours.

Penalties for late submission will be applied consistently and equitably to all students enrolled in the unit. Where short-term, serious and unavoidable circumstances have affected their ability to submit an assessment task, a student must submit a formal application for Special Consideration as per the Special Consideration Policy. Students should not request an informal arrangement from their tutor, lecturer or Unit Convenor.

Where an application for Special Consideration is approved, and the outcome is an extension to the due date of a task, submissions that are received after the new due date will be subject to late penalties that are calculated from the new due date. This only applies where the outcome is an extension to the due date – see the Special Consideration Policy for a schedule of all possible outcomes.

Special Consideration

Students should submit applications for Special Consideration electronically via the Service Connect portal, along with the supporting documentation. Before submitting their applications, students should refer to the Special Consideration Policy (link provided under ‘Policies and Procedures’ below).

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Professional Skills 20% No Ongoing
Practice-Based Task 40% No 14/04/2025
Exam 40% No University Exam Period

Professional Skills

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will engage in classroom activities including mooting, presentations or demonstrations, structured discussion and problem solving, doctrinal analysis, simulated client consultations, and collaborative legal research. Through these activities students will develop skills in oral advocacy, legal analysis, critical reasoning, teamwork and team leadership, and/or strategic problem-solving. These activities are designed to strengthen students' ability to communicate legal concepts verbally and engage professionally within a supportive learning environment.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse central constitutional law concepts, structural features, and implications arising from the constitutional text.
  • Identify constitutional law principles within cases.
  • Assess different theories of constitutional interpretation and understand their relationship to different doctrinal positions.
  • Evaluate what is necessary for a constitution, assessing current deficiencies and strengths in the Commonwealth Constitution.
  • Apply constitutional law to new fact problems.
  • Communicate, interact and collaborate professionally and effectively in verbal and non-verbal contexts across diverse settings.
  • Work independently, meet deadlines, take initiative and be adaptable to diverse and changing environments.

Practice-Based Task

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 14/04/2025
Weighting: 40%

 

An assessment on professional skills and knowledge relevant to the unit. This could be a legal or policy brief, a report, an essay, a law reform proposal, legal pleadings or other related professional task. This assessment may require students to prepare a response through research and adhere to discipline-specific scholarly conventions.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse central constitutional law concepts, structural features, and implications arising from the constitutional text.
  • Identify constitutional law principles within cases.
  • Assess different theories of constitutional interpretation and understand their relationship to different doctrinal positions.
  • Communicate, interact and collaborate professionally and effectively in verbal and non-verbal contexts across diverse settings.
  • Work independently, meet deadlines, take initiative and be adaptable to diverse and changing environments.

Exam

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: University Exam Period
Weighting: 40%

An invigilated exam held in the formal examination period. The exam may cover any or all topics and materials covered in the unit.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse central constitutional law concepts, structural features, and implications arising from the constitutional text.
  • Identify constitutional law principles within cases.
  • Evaluate what is necessary for a constitution, assessing current deficiencies and strengths in the Commonwealth Constitution.
  • Apply constitutional law to new fact problems.
  • Communicate, interact and collaborate professionally and effectively in verbal and non-verbal contexts across diverse settings.
  • Work independently, meet deadlines, take initiative and be adaptable to diverse and changing environments.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Delivery

Please note that this unit is worth 10 credit points, which equates to 150 hours of work across the semester. Therefore, students should expect to commit an average of 10 hours per week to this unit, including all scheduled and unscheduled activities and preparing and executing the assessment tasks.

Lectures

Session 1 commences on Monday 24 February (Week 1 of the teaching calendar). Commencing in Week 1, there will be a weekly 1hr live lecture and a 1hr prerecorded lecture, both of which will be made available on Echo360 in iLearn. Students are strongly encouraged to attend the live lectures in person in order to keep up with the weekly content, and students will have an opportunity to ask questions. The schedule of topics to be covered in the lectures, and corresponding required readings, will be available in detail on iLearn. Please note that there are no lectures in Week 13.

Tutorials

Weekly one hour tutorials begin in Week 2 (week commencing Monday 3 March - there is no tutorial in Week 1), and finish in Week 13. Therefore there is a total of 12 weekly tutorials. Tutorial questions and activities for each week will be available on the iLearn page in advance. Students are expected to attend weekly. Students can miss up to three (3) tutorials without having to apply for Special Consideration. See iLearn for further information regarding tutorial attendance requirements. See policies and procedures in this Unit Guide for more information on how to apply for Special Consideration, and see iLearn for more information on tutorial attendance requirements. 

Resources

Required text: Sarah Joseph and Melissa Castan, Federal Constitutional Law: A Contemporary View (Thompson Reuters, 6th Edition, 2024)

Students can purchase this textbook online. If students purchase directly from the Thomson Reuters eStore, they can use student promo code UNIS15 for free shipping and a 20% discount off the hard copy textbook or the eBook, and if students choose to purchase a bundle of both the hard copy text and the eBook, the discount increases to 25% for the bundle.

Additional readings will also be identified and accessible through iLearn.

Students require access to a computer, internet with decent speed and a secure/reliable server. The iLearn page contains all Unit requirements and a weekly schedule for teaching, readings and tutorials. Information about all assessment tasks is also available on iLearn.

Unit Schedule

See iLearn for the full lecture and tutorial schedules. This unit will cover the following topics:

- Introduction to Australian Constitutional Law

- Indigenous Peoples and the Constitution 

- Characterisation and Constitutional Interpretation, Federalism, and State Constitutional Law 

- Corporations Power 

- External Affairs Power 

- Statutory Executive Power, Prerogative Power, and Nationhood Power  

- Defence Power 

- Federal and State Separation of Judicial Power 

- Financial Powers and Grants 

- Intergovernmental Immunities and Inconsistency of Laws 

- Freedom of Interstate Trade 

- Approaches to Rights Protection 

- Express and Implied Rights and Freedoms 

- Constitutional Reform

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

This unit now includes an invigilated exam that will be run centrally by the University and held in the University Exam Period.

Unit information based on version 2025.03 of the Handbook