Australian Commercial Law: Rules and Applications

Australian Commercial Law
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Part A
A tribe of South American people live in forests, and its members have never seen modern
civilisation in their life. This tribe is controlled by elders who made the rules in the tribes
which favour everyone. Generally, these rules are proposed by the elders, and they are
implemented based on what the group agrees, thus, it was an informal process. Now the
tribe is developing a constitution in order to make rules regarding protection of members
from violence and make the whole process formal. The constitution provides rights to each
member based on which they are protected from violent acts of other members. The
members who use violence are punished by imprisonment for a period based on the
seriousness of their crimes. Furthermore, the tribe also punished the members by imposing
fines on the parties by taking their belongings or land.
The purpose of these rules is to formalise the process of holding people liable for their
violent actions against other tribe members. This constitution complies with the three-part
legal system developed by Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart. Firstly, the Rule of Recognition
provides that the law should be certain and their validity should be clear1. The constitution
which held tribe members liable for their actions is applied over the whole tribe. All the
members know about these regulations, and they are aware regarding the punishments for
different violent crimes. The rule of change principle also applies to the constitution because
a process is given in the tribe to change the policies of the constitution based on majority
votes. The rule of adjudication is present as well because the judgement is given by specific
members who did not have an interest in the case and rely on principles of natural justice.
1 HLA Hart, Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart and Leslie Green, The Concept of Law (Oxford University Press, 2012).
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Part B
The English Criminal Law which applies in England considered the crimes as wrongs against
the whole society rather than only the private individuals. The legal system provides that
the state is responsible for controlling, managing and preventing crimes to bring justice in
the country. The main objective of the legal system in England is to prevent crimes rather
than punishing the criminals2. The penalties which imposed by the courts in a person who
found guilty of criminal offense include custodial sentences, fines, discharges and life
imprisonment. The Criminal Justice Act3 governs the sentencing decisions made by the
courts. The sentencing and fines are based on the seriousness of the crimes committed by
the person. Hart’s three-part legal system applies to the legal framework in England. For
example, the rule of recognition applies because all the rules are clear because they are
included in the constitution and legislation.
The rule of change also applies because the process of amending, replacing, deleting and
adding the laws are clearly defined in the legal system of England. The rule of adjudication
applies as well because criminal matters are handled by criminals courts which are divided
based on geographic locations and seriousness of punishments. In comparison with
Australia, the policies are similar because most of the policies are adopted from the English
legal system. The Crimes Act4 imposes various penalties for criminal acts such as
imprisonment, fines, community sentences, discharge and life imprisonments. Hart’s three-
part legal system applies in Australia as well. The rule of recognition applies because rules
are mentioned in the constitution and legislation5. The rules of changes are included in the
constitution. The rule of adjudication is clearly defined as well which applies based on
geographic locations and seriousness of crimes.
2 Charles Rembar, The law of the land: The evolution of our legal system (Open Roan Media, 2015).
3 Criminal Justice Act 2003
4 Crimes Act 1914
5 ABS, Crime and Justice: The Criminal Justice System (2018) ABS < http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs
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