Criminal Law: Homicide and Other Complex Offences unit (LAW218)

Introduction

This unit builds on Criminal Law 1: Principles and Processes. It draws students into deeper analyses of doctrinal criminal law through studying homicide, sexual offences, drug offences, serious driving offences and property offences. This unit also introduces you to the framework the criminal law uses for prosecuting more than one person for being ‘a party’ to an offence in some way. In some sections of the unit you will encounter advanced concepts, such as determining whether killing someone already thought to be dead constitutes murder. Since the criminal laws studied are contained in Tasmanian and Australian legislation, the unit enhances students’ skills in statutory interpretation, which are highly valued in various professional settings.

Summary

Unit name	Criminal Law: Homicide and Other Complex Offences
Unit code	LAW218
Credit points	12.5
College/School	Arts and Society Faculty of Law
Discipline	Law
Coordinator	Doctor Matias Thomsen
Available as an elective?	No
Delivered By	University of Tasmania
Level	Intermediate

Availability

Specific information on 2027 unit availability will be available in August

Learning Outcomes

• Recall and summarise legal definitions, the outcomes of court cases, and the facts that need to be proven to establish guilt for different criminal offences
• Examine the reasoning behind a particular judgment, principle, proposition or interpretation from the perspective of lawyers representing the prosecution and the accused
• Predict how a court might decide a question of law given a certain factual situation and conflicting legal opinion regarding the correct interpretation of criminal law statutes
• Explain orally and in writing the relevant law and application to factual context

Fee Information

2027 fee information will be available in August.

Requisites

Prerequisites

50 credit points of Introductory Law core (or LAW107 and LAW108) and LAW229

Teaching

Teaching Pattern	2 hour weekly Lecture 2 hour fortnightly Seminar Dr Matias Thomsen & Assoc Prof Jeremy Prichard will be the Unit Coordinators for this unit.
Assessment	Assessment Task 2: Seminar Participation (20%)|Assessment Task 3: Seminar Paper (40%)|Assessment Task 4: Examination (40%)
Timetable	View the lecture timetable | View the full unit timetable

Textbooks

Required	Required readings will be listed in the unit outline prior to the start of classes.

The University reserves the right to amend or remove courses and unit availabilities, as appropriate.