LLB101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, Terra Nullius, Hopetown
LLB101 INTRODUCTION TO LAW LECTURE 1
1. AUSTRALIAN LEGAL HISTORY
A. The ‘Reception’ of English Law
○See Chapter 8 Connecting with Law
○When Australia was colonised in 1788, the English brought with them their legal system.
○The three then recognised categories of colonisation are defined below:
■Settled → arrived, pitched tents and took over
■Conquered → arrived and ceased battled (significant resistance to the
arrivals, battles to repel arrivals)
■Ceded → sovereignty ended with a treaty (i.e New Zealand; the
sovereignty was ceded to Great Britain).
B. What about Indigenous Law?
○As a matter of the law, the high court has asserted that Australia was in fact settled as
determined in Mabo v Qld but it was not terra nullius (‘no-one’s land’).
○However, the British Crown still acquired sovereignty and the right to parcel out the land,
without the consent of the Indigenous owners (post 1788).
■‘The British Crown’ is a term used to crystallise the sovereignty.
■No traditional law has survived in a formal sense
■Indigenous ownership of land (native title) has potentially survived. It may still be
recognised if the Indigenous owners can read quiet a stringent test to prove their
ownership of the land of which they claim. This may be difficult because they are
required to show a close connection with the land and that it has continued, especially
for the Indigenous individuals who were forcibly removed from their land.
○When looking at the Mabo case, there are parts of land of which the High Courts asserts have
not been given out by the British Crown.
○No tradition indigenous laws are directly implausible to ___.
○Laws are essentially rules of which are enforced by a legal system.
○Mant traditional Indigenous law may still operate as a matter of fact; they regulate our
behaviour.
○Because people chose to comply with the law, it operates as a matter of fact.
○See Chapter 9 Connecting with Law
○We received in Australia, English Law; common law and statute law.
■Common law is law made by judges.
■Statute law is law made by parliament which made be referred to as Acts of
Parliament or legislation.
○Key features of the English legal and governmental system:
■The three branches of government:
●legislature (makes the law)
●executive (implements and administers the law) and
●judiciary (interpret and apply the law)
■Responsible and representative government
●The idea that we elect people to represent us in the parliamentary system
and to vote on legislation on our behalf. The flip side of the trust we have in
the representative is that we hold them responsible ultimately to us and the
ultimate way of which we hold them accountable to what they do is via the
election system.
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Document Summary
Llb101 introduction to law lecture 1: australian legal history, the reception" of english law. When australia was colonised in 1788, the english brought with them their legal system. The three then recognised categories of colonisation are defined below: Settled arrived, pitched tents and took over. Conquered arrived and ceased battled (significant resistance to the arrivals, battles to repel arrivals) As a matter of the law, the high court has asserted that australia was in fact settled as determined in mabo v qld but it was not terra nullius ( no-one"s land"). However, the british crown still acquired sovereignty and the right to parcel out the land, without the consent of the indigenous owners (post 1788). The british crown" is a term used to crystallise the sovereignty. No traditional law has survived in a formal sense. Indigenous ownership of land (native title) has potentially survived.
