LML6001 – 1 Australian Legal system
Tutorial Questions
1. Under the Commonwealth Constitution, which of the following is not part of the
Australian Federal Parliament?
(a) The Queen
(b) The Senate
(c) The House of Representatives
(d) The Prime Minister
2. The Federal Parliament has, under the Constitution, the right to make or unmake any law
whatever, but:
(a) the constituency can change a Statute passed by Parliament by voting out their
Members of Parliament
(b) the High Court can rule that a Statute passed by Parliament is unconstitutional
(c) the Queen can, at her absolute discretion, change any Statute passed by Parliament
(d) the Prime Minister may, with the consensus of Cabinet, change a Statute passed by
Parliament
3. ‘Separation of Power’ means:
(a) the power of Ministers is discrete within their respective portfolio, and each is not
permitted to exercise that of other Ministers
(b) the power of the Senate and the power of the House of Representatives are
separate, and each is not permitted to overstep their respective boundary
(c) the Parliament, the Executive and the Judicature form the three institutions of
government each with its own power, and each is not supposed to encroach into the
power of the other two
(d) the Queen, being the Head of State, has a separate power to dismiss the Prime
Minister upon the advice of the Governor General
4. Which of the following is an incorrect description of ‘common law’?
(a) It is a type of legal system, e.g. ‘common law’ as distinct from ‘civil law’
(b) It is law created by the courts, e.g. ‘common law’ as distinct from ‘statute law’
(c) It is a way of describing a spousal relationship, e.g. ‘common law’ spouse as distinct
from ‘legal’
spouse
(d) It is a body of law, e.g. ‘common law’ as distinct from ‘equity’
5. The power for Parliament to make laws about immigration and citizenship matters lies in:
(a) The Migration Act 1958 and the Australian Citizenship Act
(b) The Migration Regulations 1994 and the Australian Citizenship Regulations 1960
(c) The Australian Constitution
(d) The common law
6. Statute law are laws made by:
(a) the Queen
(b) Parliament
(c) Cabinet
(d) the Governor General in Council
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7. A Bill:
(a) must always be introduced into Parliament by the incumbent Government
(b) may not be introduced into Parliament by a private member
(c) must be read and passed 3 times by both Houses of Parliament before it becomes
law
(d) must, after it has been passed by Parliament, receive Royal Assent before it
becomes law
8. If a Bill is rejected twice by Parliament:
(a) the responsible Minister must resign
(b) the Prime Minister can convene a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament to vote on
the Bill
(c) the Prime Minister can call a double dissolution of Parliament
(d) the Bill cannot be reintroduced in its original form within 6 months
9. If a delegated legislation is disallowed by Parliament:
(a) the responsible Minister must resign
(b) the Prime Minister can convene a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament to vote on
the legislation
(c) the Prime Minister can call a double dissolution of Parliament
(d) the legislation cannot be reintroduced in its original form within 6 months
10. If a delegated legislation is disallowed by Parliament:
(a) it would become non-effective ab initio, i.e. it had been non-effective right from the
beginning
(b) it would become non-effective from the date of disallowance, but would have
remained good law until the date of the disallowance
(c) it would still be effective until the disallowance has been sent to the Governor
General and he has signed the instrument declaring it to be non-effective
(d) so as not to disadvantage affected parties, it would become non-effective only when
the disallowance is tabled before each House of Parliament, which is 15 sitting days
after the next sitting of Parliament
11. In looking up the definition or interpretation of a term in legislation, if the term can be
found in both a statute (Act) and a delegated legislation (Regulations), then, in the
absence of any contrary intentions:
(a) the interpretation in the Act shall prevail over that in the Regulations
(b) the interpretation in both the Act and the Regulations shall carry equal weight
(c) the interpretation in the Regulations shall prevail over that in the Act
(d) one should look up a normal English dictionary to find the ordinary meaning of the
term
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12. Which one of the following bodies does not have Federal jurisdiction?
(a) The Family Court
(b) The High Court
(c) The County Court
(d) The Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal
13. The term ‘parliament’ specifically refers to:
(a) all elected members of both Houses
(b) all members of the Government and the Queen’s representative
(c) all elected members of both Houses and the Queen’s representative
(d) all elected members of both Houses, the Queen’s representative and the Chief
Justice of the High Court
14. Under the Commonwealth Constitution, the law-making powers of the state parliaments
are best described as:
(a) residual powers, concurrent powers and some exclusive powers
(b) concurrent powers and some residual powers
(c) residual powers and concurrent powers
(d) exclusive powers and residual powers
15. Concurrent powers of the federal parliament are best described as:
(a) powers that the federal parliament exercises concurrently with the federal courts
(b) legislative powers that are shared between the Commonwealth and the States
(c) the remaining law making powers that are delegated to the federal parliament after
an express allocation of powers has occurred
(d) the jurisdiction of federal parliament
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