Fairness and justice 

Through Legal Studies, students develop an understanding of the concept of ‘justice’ and its relationship to fairness. Students explore the idea of justice, and the challenges that the Australian legal system faces in trying to achieve this.

Students may examine and/or analyse:

• ‘natural’ justice
• Australia’s adversary system
• access to justice.

Students may consider the following big questions:

• What is justice?
• Should perceptions of justice vary globally?
• Is justice delayed, justice denied?
• Should the law influence society or society influence the law?
• To what extent do diverse groups in Australia have equal access to justice?
• How fair are referendums?
• How do we strike a fair balance between all people in a diverse society?
• How can laws deal with the moral complexity of contemporary society?
• Do we/should we align the degree of suffering of the victim with the penalty of the crime?
• Is there such a thing as a victimless crime?
• Is being fair and being just the same thing?
• Why are civil disputes treated differently from criminal disputes? Is this fair?
• How effective is the adversarial system in providing justice for diverse groups in Australia?