Evidence Exam Notes | LAW2395 | RMIT JURIS DOCTOR

Description

High-Distinction Evidence Law (LAW2395) Exam Notes If you need to cram for your LAW2395 exam, these notes have you covered. They map out the syllabus with the Uniform Evidence Act (UEA) and key common law cases, giving you ready made structures to answer problem questions quickly. What you get: Week 1: Foundations of Evidence Law – Core definitions (facts in issue, probative value), the trial process, burdens/standards of proof, the voir dire, and the framework of the Uniform Evidence Act (UEA). Week 2: Relevance & Admissibility – The fundamental threshold of relevance (s 55), provisional relevance, discretionary and mandatory exclusions (ss 135–137), and the res gestae exception. Week 3: Competence, Compellability & Examination – Capacity and obligations to testify (ss 12–13), examination-in-chief (reviving memory), cross-examination (Browne v Dunn, prior inconsistent statements), re-examination, and the Jones v Dunkel inference. Week 4: Identification Evidence – Legal requirements and restrictions for visual and picture identification (Part , ss 114–115), judicial warnings on its unreliability, and social media identification. Week 5: Hearsay Rule & Exceptions – The exclusionary hearsay rule (s 59), first-hand hearsay exceptions (maker available vs unavailable), and specific exceptions such as business records (s 69) and admissions (s 60). Week 6: Right to Silence & Admissions – Inferences from silence (Weissensteiner), the admissibility of admissions (s 81), post-offence conduct indicating a consciousness of guilt, and relevant jury directions. Week 7: Improperly Obtained Evidence – The judicial balancing test for admitting or excluding unlawfully or improperly obtained evidence (s 138), alongside general exclusionary discretions. Week 8: Character & Credibility – The credibility rule (s 102) and its exceptions (cross-examination, rebutting denials, experts); rules governing evidence of the accused's good character (ss 110–111). Week 9: Tendency & Coincidence – The strict frameworks for admitting character-based tendency (s 97) or coincidence (s 98) evidence, focusing on the "significant probative value" test and mandatory notice requirements. Week 10: Opinion Evidence – The general exclusion of opinions (s 76), exceptions for lay opinions (s 78), and requirements for admitting expert "specialised knowledge" opinions (s 79). Week 11: Privileges – Protections covering Client Legal Privilege (CLP), the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination (s 128), Public Interest Immunity (PII), and Settlement Negotiation Immunity.