Crime Speech (1 Viewer)

[Lainee]

My next legal assessment is an 8 minute Oral task on Crime. I have to speak about a criminal, indictable case that has occured within the last 10 years in NSW. It has a 20% value, and I've never gone well with legal speeches in the past, so I'm hoping for any advice anyone can give me on it. Particularly, if you can suggest a case you've come across or one you've actually studied in depth yourself. From past experience, I know it's best to select a case which questions a particular aspect of the law, or in which a decision led to a significant change.
If anyone can give me any tips it'll be most appreciated!

 

[MiuMiu]

The best one to do at the moment would be the gang rape case in which Judge Michael Finnane gave Bilal Skaf and his brother 55 years. It was highly controversial and has led to significant change in the way sentencing is viewed. But Im guessing a lot of ppl in ur class will be doing this cos it is so recent and the info is so readily accessible.

You could always do the Pauline Hanson/David Ettridge case and look at how the application of the law was tainted by politics and the question of the fair trial in regards to it being unavoidable that the jury could not be impartial. You could also bring up the issue of the community's perception of justice, and how even though many ppl opposed Hanson and her policies, it was plain to see that she was a political prisoner and the sentence did not fit the crime. This would be really interesting to do but you'd have to really do your research. This topic would focus more on the concepts of Natural Justice & law as a reflection of morality and values, something that not many ppl will do and may give you the edge (Im guessing most of your class will tend to choose aspects of the law such as sentencing & the like, and trust me, your teacher will be sooo sick of it by the end!)

I miss legal already!

Hope this helps!

EDIT: Just read ur post again and realised it has to be a NSW case. Disregard the second suggestion, sorry!

 

[MiuMiu]

Haha Im such a nerd, but I miss it like crazy!

 

[Lainee]

Damnit, the Pauline Hanson/David Ettridge case would have been awesome to do especially after you advertising its advantages! I was all keen on it until I reached your EDIT msg at the bottom. >.<

And yeah, the gang rape case was what sprung to my mind first when I got the assignment as it would have for many people. So, as much fun as that would have been to do, it loses points for being too obvious a choice.

Maybe I'll try to convince my teacher to let me do the Hanson one anyway when school starts again. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks heaps though!

 

[Ziff]

Damn. Our speech for that was worth only 10%

Still, I managed to be 1st in class (96.25%)...

Basically all you're doing is applying the syllabus to the case. On your assessment notice did it tell you to do things such as "factors affecting criminal behaviour", "assess the effectiveness of the criminal system", "assess the role of the courts" and so on?

 

[Lainee]

Yep it does: "an analysis of the following where applicable: elements of the crime, factors affecting criminal behaviour, defences, the criminal process, the role of legal aid, sentencing issues, penalties imposed, the case as a reflection of community standards and expectations...'.

In 'outcomes to be assessed' has some pretty standard stuff as well as 'Analyses legislation cases, media report and opinions to review arguments for change and reform in the law'.

It's probably going to be the easiest way to get maximum marks and because it's worth 20% and all I really want to outshine everyone else. That means going into deeper discussion of things briefed by textbooks or going above and beyond what the syllabus calls for. It really means finding a case that'll give me alot of issues to bring up and discuss.

 

[Ziff]

I wish mine was worth 20% I kicked it so damn hard

But it's a pretty easy assignment. Which textbook do you use for legal? Ours is the Heinemann one, but I've used the only copy of the MacMillian one we have and I think I prefered that.

The key to this is to be MORE detailed and MORE complex than the other people in the class. If it's a Supreme Court case (you should choose a case that was in the Supreme Court as it's the easiest to research) look it up at http://www.austlii.edu.au, use quotes, mention the precedents that case mentioned, explain principles and important considerations (mitigating/aggrivating, principle of totality etc) and anything else that you can find. Incorporate newspaper articles and anything from the media in your presentation, I lost some marks for not really doing this. Then again the only paper that reported on my case was the Illawarra Mercury and I think it's a shitty paper, just a slight better than the Daily Telegraph. I must get over this if I want a better mark in legal, or ask the SMH to publish more law/legal stuff

 

[Lainee]

Originally posted by Ziff
But it's a pretty easy assignment. Which textbook do you use for legal? Ours is the Heinemann one, but I've used the only copy of the MacMillian one we have and I think I prefered that.

Well, we actually get all four avaliable textbooks, so while they overlap alot they cover everything very well. It's just alot of reading. >.<

The last speech assignment (Year 11), the markers said I spent too much time discussing the details of the case and should spend more 'evaluating'. It's pretty difficult in an 8 min presentation to cover what the case actually *is* first and then go on to evaluate the effectiveness of legal measures etc. So, I'm really searching for a case that isn't too intricate in details but heavy in evaluation potential. It's kinda hard to explain though (simple case, but lots of evaluation potential) and I myself *still* find it hard to distinguish the two. My last speech was a case on battered women syndrome, where I really had to set the background to the case (the history of abuse) and then I had to include some info from a psychological perspective. I felt fine about the job I did, but the marks and marking comments weren't so great and for the reason I mentioned above.

So while you say that it's a 'pretty easy assignment', for me, it's probably the easiest assignment to perform badly in.

 

[Ziff]

Oh it isn't easy to keep under the time limit. Ours was 10mins, in the end everyone went over to about 15mins, there was no way in hell we could keep it under 10 and cover it in detail. She decided to alter it to about 15 in the end lol...

 

[Lainee]

Heheh, we get cutoff at exactly 8 mins so... no chance of that happening for me unfortunately.

 

[~*HSC 4 life*~]

we had this assessment too....i did the case R v SLD perhaps more easily recognised as Central coast murder, it was about a child who has aged 13 who stabbed a 3 year old girl, Courtney Morely Clarke to death. Its a pretty good case to use for the assignment, i found it interesting, there aren't too many intricate details of the murder, you can just sum it up in a line, thats what i did, i stated what SLD did in a line, then i went on the descirbe the elements of crime, factors, effectiveness etc...you can analyse this one pretty easily and look at effectiveness, whether justice was achieved for victim and society etc because SLD was a child..you can then delve into the whole doli incapax thing about whether he really knew what he was doing was serious and not just naughty or mischevious, important to relate back to articles and documents, there were anumber for my case, except it was good because it wasn't as media hyped as R v BSKAF "gang rape" case...so manybe the chances of ur fellow students using this case is smaller...this guy, SLD by the way has like a TRILLION factors which affected his criminal behaviour and if u dwld the case summary off austlii it will go into it in great detail. for my speech i made sure i used appropriate legal terminlogy wherever i could and also define it. Eg SLD had the mens rea or the intent to commit the crime...the case was heard in the NSW supreme court which has the original jurisdiction to hear serious indictable offences <-- stuff like that, DEFINE it as you go...makes u look like you know what ur on about

Its a very easy assessment if you can target what you're meant to talk about (if applicable to the case) the cas eyou choose is also important, Yes as pthers said make sure u can evaulate the effectiveness and efficiency of the legal system for that case, but dont worry because no matter what case u choose there will always be parts that would have been dealt with ineffeciently.
some good cases are
R v Fernando (involves ATSI offender)
R v Said Morgan
R v Milat <-- this is quite popular though, steer clear if u can
R v O'Grady
R v SLD
R v LMV 9??) <-- not sure of name but it is also another child case...Corey Davis was the name
R v Follbigg <-- will be popular too, the problem witht his case is that there will be TOO much info and difficult to condense

good luck!

 

[Lainee]

Hey thanks! I'll do some research into those!

Aren't they all murder cases? Some pretty grim research ahead. R v Folbigg is probably one with alot of issues to discuss, though as you said it might be hard to condense it into an 8 minute speech. But yeah... it'll probably be popular because it's a pretty recent case. Both R v SLD and the other very similar case R v LMW (you were close) revolve around the issue of age and criminal responsibility - so they should have quite a bit to discuss as well. I'll probably end up choosing one of them if I don't find anything else.

I'm guessing that most people in the class are going to do a murder/rape case though - so I probably should either find a really standout one or risk boring the markers? Or is that something I shouldn't be worrying about since it's pretty hard to find anything besides those types of cases anyway?

 

[~*HSC 4 life*~]

I think if you chose a non murder/rape case and executed it well then the markers would be very impressed....it would no doubt be harder to dicuss the cirminal process etc but i say if you can find a good one then go for it! it certainly wont bore the markers as they are hearing somethign different to the rest of the class, its up to you because you will be the one reseraching it. Often the other crimes besides murder, drug possession and rape are quite hidden (eg white collar crimes) in the media so in terms of researching your in for more of a challenge but this is something a higher order legal student would do

 

[Ziff]

The other reason you're doing this assignment is to use it later for when you have to write essays etc. So make sure you pick something that you will be able to use to write essays with later on in the year. Another good idea is to look at the sort of questions that they ask in the Crime section of past papers and work from there, you want to be able to get good marks in this assessment but also make it easier to get good marks in future assessments. Much of the analysis that you're doing for this assessment is the same as you'll do for essays - "assess the effectiveness of...", "evaluate...", "assess the role o...f" etc - so make sure you keep that in mind.

So it's a good idea to use a case where you can show the failings or the advantages of the legal system. I used a local Wollongong case, the Keira Street Shootings (R v. Popovic [2001] NSWSC 1118) and was able to evaluate easily as there were both positives and negatives then make an over all assessment/judgement.

 

[Melz]

hey lainee ^_~


don't worry too much abt the speech. just cover all the typical points that are expected from us and you'll be fine. don't worry about being unique - i think the case i did last time was just about the same as everyone elses and i did alright, just nail the points the teacher is looking for.

 

[Lainee]

@ Ziff - Good point! I've peeked through some past papers, and I think that doing an unconventional case would reduce the possibility of reusing it again in future exams, which was what I think you were alluding to. I guess I should aim to choose something that could possibly be covered in my optional focus studies (I'm doing Family and World Order) as well. Thanks heaps for that!

@ melz - Eeeeee! So much for me trying to ask for help anonymously here, how will I ever face the class again. *hides*
Oh man, you don't know how much speeches kill me. And all this holiday time freaks me out even more (ie. thinking that everyone else much be cramming their arses off and panicking). And don't tell me you haven't been doing your research too! Duh, why else would you browse through the legal studies section of a HSC help site eh?

btw we need to get the eco thing done as well. Seems to be too much info to cram into 2000 words... anyway, doesn't belong here i'll meet you over in the eco board as soon as I get my notes typed up.

 

[Melz]

=) actually, I've been bludging heaps. and have done maybe one page of maths hw for the whole hols so far.

(*is off topic*.... does this forum kill you for being off topic?)

anyway. i was thinking of maybe computer crime?

 

[adamj]

Originally posted by Lainee
My next legal assessment is an 8 minute Oral task on Crime. I have to speak about a criminal, indictable case that has occured within the last 10 years in NSW. It has a 20% value, and I've never gone well with legal speeches in the past, so I'm hoping for any advice anyone can give me on it. Particularly, if you can suggest a case you've come across or one you've actually studied in depth yourself. From past experience, I know it's best to select a case which questions a particular aspect of the law, or in which a decision led to a significant change.
If anyone can give me any tips it'll be most appreciated!

I have done a 20%, 7.5 minute Crime Speech in legal, they can be stressful. The good thing about legal studies is that you simply have to cover the dot-points, unlike let's say English which a syllabus is made up of paragraphs making it harder to understand what a 100% would require.

Indictable offences are serious forms, depending on the questions, you might want to state what they are and use a credible source (i.e. not "My First Dictionary) e.g. The Crimes Act 1900 NSW, under definitions, might be there. Refer to the Crimes Act and th Sentencing Act as well. As Ms 12 stated, the case of Bilal Skaf is wise, very contraversial and with substance, becuase the judge did not deliver concurrent sentence, which is rare - usually if you have been sanctioned with 3 years for one offence and 10 years for another, you will only serve 10 years, serving the first three also for the 3 year offence.

Then talk about effectiveness, remember the court isn't everything, remember the investigation of the police and the process. Finaine was also very thorough, re-examining another case of sexual assualt in Chatswood.

 

[MiuMiu]

If you wanted to do the gang rape case, I recommend getting in touch with Judge Finnane, that will give you the edge. And believe it or not, most of the Sydney District Court Judges are really nice and will be more than willing to help (when they've got time).

 

[adamj]

Very much so, judgements are also public record, so they are available on Austlii or you could furthermore try contacting the Judge's chambers.

To add that extra edge, I would also throw in some stuff from the Law Reform Commission.