TE PIRINGA FACULTY OF LAW
Family Law 2015 Outline
1.
Identification of Paper
Paper: LAWS408-15A
This paper carries 20 points
2.
Staffing
Steve Macbeth
(Convenor)
Phone: 027 2295160
Room: LG 33
Email: samacb@waikato.ac.nz
Availability: by arrangement during the days lectures are delivered or by
appointment.
3.
Description and Structure of Paper
This paper focuses on the law, court procedure and social policies concerning family law. In
particular issues concerning guardianship and parenting orders (care and contact), domestic
violence, paternity, the Hague Convention on Aspects of Child Abduction and the Children Young
Persons and their Families Act are considered.
(b) Structure of the Paper
This is a A semester paper. The teaching is done in two two-hour lecture periods per week. The
whole class must attend these lectures. Attendance at lectures is essential for success in the
research essay and the final examination.
The lecture hours are
Mondays
Fridays
3.00-5.00
9.00-11.00
ELT
L.G.05
(c) Attendance
Te Piringa Faculty of Law places great emphasis on providing students with opportunities for high
achievement in law papers.
4.
Learning outcomes
A student who has completed the course successfully will be able to describe the applicable
family court procedures and policy and within a factual context apply the relevant statutory and
case law persuasively. The student will also demonstrate an ability to research a family law topic
and to then analyse the legal, policy, and social issues that arise.
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5.
Workload
Students should expect to spend 200 hours in total on this paper. In addition to lecture
attendance, significant time will need to be spent on background and complementary reading.
Students should allow for periods of more-focused research time in the preparation of
assignments.
6.
Required and Recommended Reading
All law students are required to purchase, for use in all law papers, a copy of McLay, Murray &
Orpin, New Zealand Law Style Guide, 2nd edition, Thomson Reuters (2011). This is available from
Bennetts, at an approximate price of $37 incl GST and
Henaghan, Atkin, Clarkson & Caldwell (Butterworths) Family Law in New Zealand 16th edition,
LexisNexis (2013). This is available from Bennetts, at an approximate price of $130.00 incl GST.
In addition to the texts identified above, the Faculty of Law requires students purchase the course
materials book(s) for this paper. These are available from Waikato Print.
The contents of the course materials book(s) will be required reading. As well, students will be
expected to have any relevant family law statutes dealt with in the course (e.g. the Care of
Children Act, Domestic Violence Act, Children Young Person and their Families Act).
The following recommended books are on Desk Reserve in the Library:
The New Zealand Family Law Journal
Bill Atkin and Mark Henaghan (eds) Family Law Policy in NZ 4th ed. Lexis Nexis 2013.
There are several web-sites which also contain relevant readings for this course:
NZ Ministry of Justice
www.justice.govt.nz
NZ Family Court
www.justice.govt.nz/family/home.asp
NZ Law Commission
www.lawcom.govt.nz
Child, Youth and Family
www.cyf.govt.nz
NZ Family Violence Clearinghouse www.nzfvc.org.nz
Minnesota Center against Violence
and Abuse
www.mincava.umn.edu
National Council of Juvenile
and Family Court Judges
www.ncjfcj.org
The New Zealand Family Law Reports are found on the lexis nexis web-site.
The Family Reports of NZ are found on the Westlaw NZ web-site along with a large number of
unreported Family Court cases (listed by month and year).
Further material may be provided on the paper site on Moodle (http://elearn.waikato.ac.nz), the
University of Waikato’s online learning system. Any such material is provided on the following
terms:
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University of Waikato owns the intellectual property rights, including copyright, in and to this site,
or has acquired the necessary licenses to display the material on the site. As a student of the Te
Piringa Faculty of Law, you are granted a limited license to use (access, display or print a single
copy) the material from the papers in which you are enrolled for the purposes of participating in
the paper only, provided the information is not modified. Materials may not under any
circumstances be copied, stored, distributed or provided in any form or method whatsoever to
any third party. Any other use of the material is prohibited. None of the material may be
otherwise reproduced, reformatted, republished or re-disseminated in any manner or form
without the prior written consent of University of Waikato. To obtain such consent, please
contact the Te Piringa Faculty of Law.
7.
Online support
Online support for this paper is provided via Moodle.
8.
Assessment
a)
Requirements for assessed work
Te Piringa Faculty of Law procedures for the presentation, submission and referencing of course
work are set out in the Te Piringa Faculty of Law Undergraduate Handbook @ p.33 which is
available from http://www.waikato.ac.nz/law/undergraduate.
Assignment resources are available online at http://www.waikato.ac.nz/law/student/
b)
Coursework: Final Examination Ratio: 50:50
c)
Assessment Components
Students will be assessed in two ways:
1. An assignment due on Friday the 15 May by 11.55am.
The assignment will contribute to the development of legal research skills in the family
law area and the practical application of those skills to factual situations. The
assignment has two components, firstly an opinion worth 30% and secondly,
applications for orders and directions and a supporting affidavit worth 20%. The
opinion will address the legal issues which arise from a factual scenario, the relevant
law including reference to case authorities. The opinion shall not exceed 2000 words.
The applications for orders and directions and a supporting affidavit is the practical
application of the law to the factual scenario provided. The affidavit shall not exceed
1500 words. The applications under the Care of Children, Domestic Violence Act 1995
or any other application/s made will be consistent with the opinion.
2. A formal 3 hour open book examination at the end of the semester. There are no
restrictions on the materials that you can bring into the examination with you.
The assignment will contribute to the development of legal research skills in the family law
area and the practical application of that knowledge. It will allow students to appreciate
current issues within family law practice and discuss the statutes, academic literature and
important case law relevant to those issues.
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The Final Examination (50%) will test students’ knowledge of the subject matter of the
course. It will test skills involving essay writing and case and fact situation analyses.
d)
Handing in, marking time and collection
All assignments must be submitted electronically through Moodle (http://elearn.waikato.ac.nz).
See
Te
Piringa
Faculty
of
Law
Undergraduate
Handbook,
available
at
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/law/undergraduate. It is the policy of Te Piringa Faculty of Law to
return marked work to students within five weeks of submission.
If you require assistance with Moodle, or encounter any problems, please contact the Help Desk.
You can send a message to Help Desk by using the instant message service in your paper (from
the participants list within the People block). Alternatively, you can email them directly at
help@waikato.ac.nz or call 838 4008.
e)
Measurement of Achievement
Achievement in examinations and tests will be measured primarily in terms of levels of
understanding and knowledge gained. Achievement in assignments will be measured also in
terms of fluency and accuracy of expression and referencing.
Major deficiencies in structure, style, grammar and spelling will result in lower marks.
f)
Management of assessment deadlines, process for requesting extensions and special
consideration, and for appeals
(i)
Extensions
Students are required to complete and submit all internal assessments by specified dates. The
meeting of deadlines is a mark of professionalism and its enforcement is essential for fairness to
all students taking the paper. Handing in course work on or before the due date also facilitates
the timely return of marked work by academic staff. Students should meet requirements as to
time deadlines for course work, or make a request for an extension or special consideration in
appropriate circumstances (see Undergraduate Programmes Manual available from the School of
Law Undergraduate website http://www.waikato.ac.nz/law/undergraduate/). Failure to comply
with requirements as to the time deadlines for internal assessment without having successfully
applied either for an extension or special consideration with supporting evidence before the due
date will result in deduction of 2.5 marks for each day the work is late. Lateness of more than a
week may result in the work not being marked. No deadlines may be extended beyond two
weeks after the last teaching day of the semester(s) in which the paper is taught as final grades
must go to the Board of Examiners at this time. Unless an extension in writing has been granted,
a lecturer may refuse to accept a piece of work which is submitted after the specified date, and
automatically award it no mark, or may lower the mark as a penalty for lateness.
Applications for extension, on the form obtainable from the Law Reception, must be submitted to
the Chief Examiner or nominee. Students should not submit the extension form to the lecturer,
nor should students seek extensions from the lecturer via other forms of communication.
Extensions will be granted only on evidence of illness, family bereavement, or serious personal
accidents or circumstances. Please note that too many assignments due at the same time is NOT
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an acceptable reason, neither are claims that computers and/or printers have crashed. Account
will be taken of the time in which the student has had to complete the internal assessment before
the intervening event occurred. It will be important to consider if the grant of the extension will
give the student in question an unfair advantage over other students. A maximum period of 14
days will be given as an extension unless there are exceptional circumstances. In determining
applications the Chief Examiner or nominee may consult with the Convenor or lecturer of the
relevant paper.
When the Chief Examiner or nominee has made a decision on the application for extension, the
nominated Administrative Assistant will advise the student of the decision by email. Following
this, the extension form will be given to the relevant lecturer who will retain it until after the
assignment is marked and returned to students. The form will then be placed on the student’s
file. It should be noted that if an extension of longer than 14 days is granted, the assignment will
not be automatically printed out and delivered to the lecturer, therefore the lecturer is
responsible for ensuring the assignment is printed. In appropriate cases, when a student’s
application for extension is declined the Chief Examiner or nominee will inform the student of the
process for applying for special consideration.
ii)
Special Consideration
The Assessment Regulations 2005 as set out in the University Calendar 2015 list in detail the
university-wide policies and procedures, which apply concerning missed examinations, impaired
performance or impaired preparation time for an examination, and missed or impaired course
work. Students are responsible for ensuring that they comply with these regulations. Application
forms for special consideration for internal assessment are available from law reception.
iii)
Appeals (University Calendar 2015, Assessment Regulations 2005, Reg. 24)
A student may appeal against any decision taken under these regulations.
An appeal, comprising a written statement of the circumstances of the appeal, together with
supporting evidence if available, must be submitted by the student in writing to the Head of
Student & Academic Services not more than seven days after the date on which notification of the
relevant decision is received.
Appeals under this section are considered and decided by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor by
delegated authority of the Education Committee.
A decision by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor is notified in writing, and is final.
iv) No electronic devices are allowed in any internal tests or exams.
v) If you wish to submit your Internal Assessment in Māori, you need to obtain an application
form from the Law Reception at least 14 days before the assessment is due.
vi) If you wish to apply to write your official exams in Māori, you need to complete the official
application form from the University’s Assessment Office.
(refer to the Policy on the Use of Māori for Assessment in the University Calendar)
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9.
University Calendar Regulations and Policies
Your attention is drawn to the following regulations and policies, which are published in the
University Calendar 2015:
Assessment Regulations 2005
Student Discipline Regulations 2014
Computer Systems Regulations 2005
Policy on the Use of Māori for Assessment
Student Research Regulations 2008
Ethical Conduct in Human Research and Related Activities Regulations 2008.
10.
Fees
Refer to http://calendar.waikato.ac.nz/admission/tableoffeesandcharges.html.
11.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Referencing guidelines and caution against plagiarism
Referencing must be in accordance with the New Zealand Law Style Guide (2nd Ed)
Thomson Reuters 2011.
All written work submitted for the purposes of assessment must be your own work.
Copying or paraphrasing all or part of another person’s work, be it published or
unpublished, without clear attribution, is plagiarism. Plagiarism is misconduct and is dealt
with under the disciplinary procedures of the University as outlined in the Student
Discipline Regulations 2014 in the University Calendar.
“Plagiarism means presenting as one’s own work the work of another, and includes the
copying or paraphrasing of another person’s work in an assessment item without
acknowledging it as the other person’s work through full and accurate referencing; it
applies to assessment presented through a written, spoken, electronic, broadcasting,
visual, performance or other medium.” See section 3, Assessment Regulations (2015
Calendar)
The Te Piringa Faculty of Law’s policy regarding plagiarism is Te Piringa Faculty of Law
Undergraduate Programmes Manual, available from:
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/law/undergraduate/.
12.
Health and safety
The Law School’s Health and Safety representative is Ms Renee Rewi in LAW.G 71 on extension
6727, but if she is not available, please report the incident to the Law Reception - Room Law G.44
or call ext 4167.
14.
Class representation
Contact details for the Student Representation Coordinator, Academic Services Division, are as
follows: Jeanie Richards, Student Services, ext. 8221, email: student.reps@waikato.ac.nz.
15.
Complaints procedures
The brochure Student Concerns and Complaints Policy provides details of the University’s process
for handling concerns and complaints and is available from Faculty and School Offices, The
Gateway and Student Services Division and is contained in the Calendar 2015. See also the
document Student Support Structure at Te Piringa Faculty of Law, available from law reception.
Lecture Schedule A Semester
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Week Commencing
Programme of lecture topics
2 March (Semester A Starts)
Introduction and overview of the paper, family law
and relevant legislation. Family Court procedure.
9 March
Guardianship, wardship and paternity.
16 March
Guardianship disputes: Relocation, medical and
schooling.
23 March
Day to day care and contact (Care of Children Act
2004) and Court Reports ( esp psychologists reports).
30 March (3 April Good Friday)
Day to day care and contact issues including violence.
6 April (Easter Monday & Tuesday)
Teaching Recess
13 April
Teaching Recess
20 April (25 April Anzac Day)
Domestic Violence Act 1995; Protection Orders.
27 April (27 April ANZAC Day - observed)
Domestic Violence cont, guest speaker if available.
4 May
Children Young Persons and their Families Act:
Introduction, policy and procedure.
11 May
Children Young Persons and their Families Act con’t
declaration, access and guardianship issues.
18 May
Hague Convention on Aspects of Child Abduction:
Introduction, procedure.
25 May
Hague Convention cont, grounds for making and
defending applications.
1 June (1 June Queen’s Birthday)
Overview of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 and
a brief overview of the Mental Health and Adoption
Acts.
8 June
Study Week
15 June
Examinations
7
22 June
Examinations
29 June
Teaching Recess
6 July
Teaching Recess/Enrolment
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