Option area 2: When rights collide

In this option, teachers develop their own unit of work to reflect the context and interests of their students. Teachers may create their own big questions by drawing on one or more areas of law from Australia and/or overseas, or use the examples below to frame the unit of work, discussion, and inquiry.

Teachers and students generate inquiry questions to focus the research and provide the basis for further exploration. 
In their response to selected big questions, students consider the competing tensions. The examples of competing tensions are given below as a guide; however, the context chosen by the teacher will determine which are appropriate.

Big questions

• How can the tension between conflicting rights be fairly resolved? (Consider: competing rights and responsibilities)
• How does the legal system protect rights and enforce obligations? (Consider: certainty and flexibility)
• Should rights and obligations vary in different contexts? (Consider: the empowered and the disempowered)
• Whose values are reflected in our laws? (Consider: the empowered and the disempowered)
• Do the values currently reflected in our laws meet the needs of contemporary society?
• How do laws provide for future generations?
• How are minority groups impacted by laws?
• How effectively do laws set standards of behaviour in society?
• Why and how do legal systems vary across the world?
• Do laws influence people, or do people influence laws?
• Can we trust our government to protect our rights?
• Does the existence of a right guarantee its enforcement?
• What is the value of rights if you don’t know that you have them?

Example of a unit of work 

Focus area 2:  Dispute resolution

Big question: Do courts resolve disputes fairly? Fairly for whom?

How might the competing tensions underpin the inquiry into this question? If we take the right to appeal as an example:

The right to appeal a court's decision raises all the competing tensions. It makes a court's decision more uncertain, but promotes flexibility. It may be said to privilege the empowered (who have resources to appeal) over the disempowered. It privileges the rights of the losing party over those of the winning party.

If we focus on fairness and efficiency as the competing tension, the following inquiry questions will help students to gather the knowledge and understanding they need to be able to think critically and analytically — and answer the big question.

• What is the role of the following aspects of the adversary system, and why are they important?
  • burden and standard of proof
  • rule of law
  • role of the judge
  • role of parties, witnesses, and other participants, including juries
  • rules of evidence and procedure
• How are criminal and civil disputes resolved both with and without a trial?
• What are the key features and principles of criminal and civil law(s)?
• How effective is the adversary system of trial compared with inquisitorial systems?
• How does the adversary system of trial protect the rights of groups and individuals in the community, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders?

Students will need to evaluate whether the law is fair and/or efficient when Australian citizens are seeking a legal resolution in the court system.