LAW REPAIRS: criteria for evaluating the law

Evaluation is the most heavily weighted skill in HSC Legal Studies and the one students improvise most often. LAW REPAIRS gives you ten criteria to test any area of law against, so that every extended response contains genuine evaluation rather than description with an opinion attached.

An effective law delivers justice and reflects the values and needs of society.

How to use it in a paragraph

1. 01Make the legal point, using the correct name of the legislation or case.
2. 02Support it with evidence: a case, a statistic, a media report or a law reform recommendation.
3. 03Choose one or two criteria from LAW REPAIRS that the evidence actually tests.
4. 04Write the judgement sentence: state how effective the law is against that criterion, and why.

Worked example

Bail reform in NSW illustrates the tension between two criteria. The Bail Act 2013 (NSW) introduced the unacceptable risk test, which improved responsiveness by replacing an unworkable presumption based system. Media coverage of high profile offences then prompted the 2014 amendments and the show cause requirement, which increased protection of the community but reduced accessibility for accused persons who remain unconvicted, with remand populations rising as a result. The law is therefore responsive and protective, but the cost is borne disproportionately by those least able to secure legal representation, which limits equality.

Notice that the paragraph names two criteria explicitly, supports each with evidence, and reaches a judgement that acknowledges a trade off. That is what an evaluative question is asking for.

Checklist before you submit an extended response

• Does the introduction state a judgement in the first two sentences?
• Does every body paragraph end with an evaluative sentence?
• Are at least four different criteria used across the response?
• Is every criterion supported by evidence rather than asserted?
• Is the most recent media reference from the current or previous year?