Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

School: SOPHI
Department/Program: Philosophy
Unit of Study: PHIL2645 Philosophy of Law
Session: Semester 1, 2014
Uni t of St udy Out l i ne


Unit Coordinators
Unit coordinators are listed on undergraduate and postgraduate coursework semester
timetables, and can be consulted for help with any difficulties you may have.
Unit coordinators (as well as the Faculty) should also be informed of any illness or other
misadventure that leads students to miss classes and tutorials or be late with assignments.
Unit Coordinator: Yarran Hominh
Location: TBA
Email address: yarran.hominh@sydney.edu.au
Consultation Hours: By appointment

Unit Tutor: Ben Cross
Location: TBA
Email address: bcro8137@uni.sydney.edu.au
Consultation Hours: By appointment

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Unit Tutor: Jeevan Hariharan
Location: TBA
Email address: jeevan.hariharan@sydney.edu.au
Consultation Hours: By appointment

This Unit of Study Outline MUST be read in conjunction with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Student Administration Manual (sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/student_admin_manual.shtml)
and all applicable University policies.

In determining applications and appeals, it will be assumed that every student has taken the time to
familiarise themselves with these key policies and procedures.

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PHIL2645 Philosophy of Law
UNIT DESCRIPTION
This unit focuses on the relationship between the self and law: what does law mean for us,
as subjects of that law? We shall examine how this relationship is conceptualized through
fundamental issues in the philosophy of law, including the nature of law, the problem of legal
obligation, the relationship between law and morality, and the rule of law and legal rights, as
well as specific contemporary issues in the philosophy of law, including the legitimacy of
criminal punishment, legal pluralism and the asylum seeker question.
We will consciously take a critical standpoint on the law. In taking this standpoint, the unit will
be structured both historically and conceptually. In the first half of the course, we shall trace
one standard historical narrative of the development of the concept of law from Plato and
Aristotle until contemporary times. The second half of the course will consider various
challenges to this standard narrative in an attempt to assess the current ways in which the
law structures our lives and our personal and political relationships. In particular, we will
focus on how law acts on various oppressed or marginalised groups.
The course will not take a doctrinal approach to law. However, the broader philosophical
issues will be addressed through particular (largely contemporary) Australian and
international case studies. Prior knowledge of law or legal systems is not required.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The expected outcomes of this unit of study are that:
Students will gain an appreciation of the questions and problems posed by the fact
we live in a society governed by law;
Students will understand the relationships between law, morality, philosophy, history
and politics;
Students will be able to explain, broadly, the development of our modern concept of
law;
Students will be able to relate the questions considered in this course to their own
lives as citizens and as individuals; and through these
Students will gain an understanding of themselves as essentially involved in the
creation and use of law, and will develop their own identities in relation to these
processes.
LEARNING STRUCTURE
One two-hour lecture per week, plus one one-hour tutorial per week. Students are expected
to attend lectures and tutorials weekly. Doing the readings and active participation in tutorials
is crucial to proper engagement with the course and achievement of the course objectives.
Fisher Special Reserve, general library and online resources including online discussion
boards will be available to students. Independent study is an expected part of student
preparation.
Students will be given tutorial activity sheets during the lecture of that week, and are
expected to have read the material for the tutorial.



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UNIT SCHEDULE

Semester One
Week Week
beginning
Lecture Tutorial
1 03 March Introduction
What is philosophy of law? What is
the relationship between philosophy
(the self) and law (society)?

This lecture will address the above
question, which will be the central
theme of the course.

Readings: Selections from Sophocles,
Antigone and Milirrpum & Ors v
Nabalco Pty Ltd [1971] 17 FLR 141
(The Gove Land Rights Case)

Additional reading: HLA Hart, Ch 1 of
The Concept of Law (1961), Three
Persistent Questions (in Special
Reserve)
None
2 10 March History of the Concept of Law I,
Plato to Bentham
The lectures for weeks 2 and 3 will set
out key concepts for the course through
a (brief) historical overview of the
development of law from the Greeks
onwards.

In this lecture, we will look at the
historical development of the two main
theories of law: legal positivism and
natural law. These theories will be
elucidated through the works of Plato
and Aristotle, Aquinas, social contract
theory in the English Civil War, and the
American Revolution.

Readings: Selections from Plato,
Republic and Aristotle, Politics;
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologicae
(1265-74), Q90 Of the Essence of
Law

Additional readings: Declaration of
Independence; Aquinas, Summa
Theologicae (1265), QQ90-92;
Blackstone, Introduction,
Commentaries on the Law of England
(1770); Friedrich, Chs III-VI, VIII-XII,
The Philosophy of Law in Historical
Perspective (1958); Mary
Gove Land Rights
Case (1971)
The Gove Land
Rights Case held
that Aboriginal
nations in the
Northern Territory
although they had
law did not have
native title in their
tribal lands.

The case was later
overturned by the
famous Mabo case
in 1992.

We will examine this
case in light of the
concepts from the
first two weeks
lectures.

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Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the
Rights of Woman (1792); The
Declaration of Sentiments (1848)
3 17 March History of the Concept of Law II,
Austin to the present
This weeks lecture will focus on the
central debate in legal philosophy of
the 20
th
century, between HLA Hart and
LL Fuller in the Harvard Law Review.
This debate set the tone for legal
philosophy as it is practiced today.

We will also consider how the historical
concepts dealt with in week 2 have
been explicated in modern legal
philosophy.

Readings: HLA Hart, Legal Positivism
and the Separation of Law and Morals
(1958), Pts I-II, IV-V; LL Fuller,
Positivism and Fidelity to Law (1958),
Pts I-V.

Additional readings: HLA Hart, Ch 5 of
The Concept of Law, Law as the Union
of Primary and Secondary Rules
(1961); LL Fuller, Ch 2 of The Morality
of Law (1965); Lacey, Philosophy,
Political Morality, and History:
Explaining the Enduring Resonance of
the Hart-Fuller Debate (2008) 83 NYU
Law Review 1059; Dworkin, The
Model of Rules, in Taking Rights
Seriously (1977); Soper, Some Natural
Confusions about Natural Law (1992)
90(8) Michigan Law Review 2393; Bix,
Natural Law Theory, in Patterson
(ed), A Companion to Philosophy of
Law and Legal Theory; Finnis, Natural
Law and Natural Rights (1980)
The case of the
Grudge Informer,
and the Nuremberg
Trials (1945)
The Nuremberg
trials inaugurated a
new era of
international human
rights law.
However, it was also
clearly an example
of victors justice.
How does Harts
analysis of the
Grudge Informer
case apply to the
Nuremberg trials?

Could the Nazis
claim they were
acting in the name
of a higher moral
law?
4 24 March Legal Obligation
We consider whether or not we have
an obligation to obey the law, and what
this question tells us about our
relationship to the law. We begin with
the arguments Socrates makes in the
Crito for obeying the law, even in the
face of death.

Readings: Plato, Crito

Additional readings: RP Wolff, In
Defense of Anarchism (1970); Henry
David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
(1849); Martin Luther King, I Have A
Nelson Mandelas
Speech from the
Dock (1964)
We analyse the
rhetoric in
Mandelas famous
Speech from the
Dock, where he
outlined his
justification for the
acts of sabotage he
committed in
apartheid South
Africa.


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Dream (1963); Simmons, Moral
Principles and Political Obligation
(1979)
Was Mandela
justified in
disobeying the law?
5 31 March Rule of Law and the Separation of
Powers
What is the rule of law, and how does
it help answer the question of why we
should obey the law? We look at this
question, and the challenges posed to
the rule of law by the need for
interpretation of the law. Who interprets
the law, and how should they interpret
the law?

Reading: Alan Norrie, A Brief History
of the ancient juridical city of
Fictionopolis (2001); Ann Scales, Ch 1
of Legal Feminism, Rule of Law
(2006)

Additional readings: Hart, Positivism
and the Separation of Law and
Morality; Fuller, Positivism and
Fidelity to Law; Schauer, Formalism
(1988) 97(4) Yale Law Journal 509;
Holmes, The Path of the Law (1897)
10 Harvard Law Review 457.
Al-Kateb (2004)
In the (in)famous
case of the stateless
Palestinian asylum
seeker, Ahmed Ali
Al-Kateb, the High
Court of Australia
held 4-3 that the
Migration Act
allowed for indefinite
detention of
stateless asylum
seekers without
charge.

We look in particular
at the debate
between Justices
McHugh and Kirby
as to the role of the
judge.
6 07 April
Optional
essay plan
due
Legal interpretivism
The most famous (and controversial)
modern theory of legal interpretation is
that of Ronald Dworkin. Dworkin
argues law itself is an interpretive
concept; law by its very nature is
thoroughly a matter of interpretation.

Importantly, Dworkin claims that this
interpretation requires a community;
that is, the problem of interpretation
leads us again to the nature of the
relationship between the self and the
law.

Readings: Ronald Dworkin, Hard
Cases (1977)

Additional readings: Dworkin, Ch 6 of
Laws Empire (1986), Integrity;
Dworkin, Objectivity and Truth (1996)
25(2) Philosophy and Public Affairs 87;
Altman, Legal Realism, Critical Legal
Studies, and Dworkin (1986) 15(3)
Philosophy and Public Affairs 205.
Monis v The Queen
(2013)
In this case, the
High Court had to
consider whether
vitriolic hate mail
sent to the families
of Australian
soldiers, who had
died in Iraq and
Afghanistan, was
protected by the
freedom of political
communication in
the Australian
Constitution.
7 14 April*
Critical
comment
Legal Realism/Critical Legal Studies
Unlike Dworkin, who emphasises how
law approaches a higher morality; how
Citizens United
(2008)/Unions NSW
funding case

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due it works itself pure, the legal realists of
the 1920s and the critical legal scholars
of the 1980s saw the ways in which law
did not serve moral goals, but rather
acted as a tool of oppression and
marginalisation.

These theorists raise the critical
question of whether our law really is a
good thing, and if not, what we can do
to change it.

Reading: Allan Hutchinson and Patrick
Monahan, Law, Politics, and Critical
Legal Studies (1984), Pts I, III, V

Additional readings: Altman, Critical
Legal Studies (1990); Roberto Unger,
The Critical Legal Studies Movement
(1983), sections I, II, VI-VII;
Leiter, Rethinking Legal Realism:
Toward a Naturalised Jurisprudence
(1997) 76(2) Texas Law Review 267;
Fuller, American Legal Realism
(1934) 82(5) University of Pennsylvania
Law Review 429; Miles and Sunstein,
The New Legal Realism (2008) 75
University of Chicago Law Review 831.
(2013)
In these two cases,
the US Supreme
Court and the
Australian High
Court found
separately that non-
human persons (ie
corporations and
corporate
associations) were
protected by the free
speech provisions of
the respective
constitutions.

This meant
corporations were
able freely to donate
money to political
campaigns.
BREAK 21-25 April SESSION BREAK / EASTER
8 28 April Legal Pluralism
So far in the course, we have looked at
law as a single object: a legal order
characterised by the rule of law. Each
society has its own law. This concept of
law, as we saw, has been embedded in
the historical development of law.

In this lecture, we begin to question this
presupposition. Is it true that law is a
unity? Can law be plural? Can more
than one legal order exist within a given
social grouping? Must law be
dominant over other forms of social
ordering? What room is there for
alternate forms of law within the
modern nation-state?

Reading: Margaret Davies, The Ethos
of Pluralism (2005)

Additional readings: Tamanaha,
Understanding Legal Pluralism: Past
to Present, Local to Global (2008) 30
Sydney Law Review 375; Merry, Legal
Pluralism (1988) 22 Law and Society
The Archbishop of
Canterbury and
Sharia law (2008)
The ex-Archbishop
of Canterbury,
Rowan Williams,
gave a controversial
speech in 2008 on
the acceptance of
elements of Islamic
Sharia law in the
UK.

The British
conservative papers
branded him as a
terrorist apologist.

What should be the
relationship between
a Western
democratic legal
system and religious
law?


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Review 869; An Naim, Islamic
Foundations of Human Rights in Witte
and van der Vyer (eds), Religious
Human Rights in Global Perspective
(1996); Mir-Hosseini, Muslim Womens
Quest for Equality (2006) 32(4) Critical
Inquiry 629; Hirschl, Constitutional
Courts v Religious Fundamentalism
(2004) 82 Texas Law Review 1819;
Tully, Strange Multiplicity:
Constitutionalism in an age of diversity
(1995).
9 05 May
Essay due
Legal Feminism
Akin in many ways to critical legal
studies and legal pluralism, feminist
critiques of law focus on the way in
which law can be oppressive, in the
feminist case, oppressive (in the first
instance) to women.

We will examine these issues through
Catharine MacKinnons seminal critique
of key legal concepts: autonomy;
consent; rule of law. How does law act
to circumscribe and define what it
means to be a woman? What might a
distinctively feminist jurisprudence look
like?

Reading: Catharine MacKinnon,
Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the
State: Toward a Feminist
Jurisprudence (1988)

Additional readings: MacKinnon,
Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the
State: An Agenda for Theory (1982)
7(3) Signs 515; Nedelsky,
Reconceiving Autonomy (1989) 1
Yale Journal of Law and Feminism;
Naffine, In Praise of Legal Feminism
(2002) 22 Legal Studies 71; Sunstein,
Feminism and Legal Theory: Review
of Feminism Unmodified (1988) 101(4)
Harvard Law Review 826
DPP v Morgan
(1975)
This famous English
case decided that
honest belief in
consent to sexual
intercourse was a
defense against
rape charges, even
where that belief
was wholly
unreasonable.

WARNING: this
weeks tutorial and
lecture will deal with
sensitive material.
We will endeavour
to do so in a caring
and open way.
Please let teaching
staff know
(preferably prior to
the week) if you feel
you may have
issues with this
material.
10 12 May Responsibility in Law
Following MacKinnons critique of
consent and autonomy, we examine
the legal treatment of responsibility,
and the concept of the person that
underlies these doctrines.

Under what circumstances would we
hold someone, at law, responsible for
his or her actions? What sort of
Bugmys case and
Mundas case
(2013)
In these two cases,
the High Court
found that a
disadvantaged
background
continued to be
relevant to ongoing

8
mitigating circumstances can be taken
into account? What relationship is there
between legal responsibility and moral
responsibility?

Reading: JL Austin, A Plea for
Excuses (1956)

Additional reading: Lacey, In Search of
the Responsible Subject (2001) 64(3)
The Modern Law Review 350;
Greenawalt, Distinguishing
Justifications from Excuses (1986)
49(3) Law and Contemporary Problems
89; Duff, Towards A Theory of
Criminal Law? (2010) 84 Proceedings
of the Aristotelian Society (Supp) 1-28;
H.L.A. Hart, Punishment and
Responsibility (1968)
offending, and that
disadvantage did
not disappear over
time.

What sorts of
considerations
should be taken into
account in assigning
Bugmy and Munda
responsibility?
11 19 May Legal Punishment
Having outlined how the law
conceptualises responsibility, we move
to examine the ways in which the
institution of legal punishment
structures our relationship to each
other, and to the law.

We will consider questions such as: is
punishment necessary to law? What (if
anything) justifies punishing
wrongdoers? What role does
punishment play in terms of defining
who forms part of a society and who
does not? What rights do those who
are punished have?

Readings: Selections from Friedrich
Nietzsche, Book II of Genealogy of
Morals (1887) and Jacques Derrida,
Force of Law (1990)

Additional readings: Cover, The
Violence of the Word (1985) 95(8)
Yale Law Journal 1601; Hampton, The
Moral Education Theory of
Punishment (1984) 13(3) Philosophy
and Public Affairs 208; Norrie, Crime,
Reason and History: A critical
introduction to criminal law (2001)
R v Brown (1994)
In this case, the UK
House of Lords
convicted a group of
men for engaging in
consensual
sadomasochistic
sex wholly in the
privacy of their own
homes.

How can we
understand this
judgment in terms of
standard
conceptions of
privacy and
autonomy? What
other considerations
may be said to
underlie this
decision?
12 26 May Citizenship and Immigration
The previous few weeks have dealt
implicitly with the theme of inclusion
and exclusion: who is included in a
society, who is left out, and what role
does law play in this dialectic of
Australian refugee
cases
We look at the
history of refugees
in Australia, and
some of the recent

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inclusion and exclusion?

In this lecture we bring this aspect of
the law to the fore, through looking at
legal citizenship. What does it mean to
be a citizen? What requirements are
there for citizenship? Who decides who
is to be a citizen and who is not? What
happens to those who are prevented
from becoming citizens? Can
citizenship be made universal?

Reading: Iris Marion Young, Polity
and Group Difference (1989)

Additional readings: Bosniak,
Universal Citizenship and the Problem
of Alienage (2000) 21 Immigration and
Nationality Review 373; Kymlicka and
Norman, The Return of the Citizen
(1994) 104 Ethics 352; Tully, The
Crisis of Global Citizenship (2009)
Radical Politics Today; Shachar, On
Citizenship and Multicultural
Vulnerability (2000) 28(1) Political
Theory 64
High Court cases in
the area. Does the
way we treat
refugees, as
others, reflect on
the relationships we
have with each
other, as citizens?
13 02 June Rights
Most of the discussions in this course
can be framed in terms of rights: the
right to life; to free speech; to health; to
property. But what are rights, and to
what extent must or should they be
framed in legal terms?

We look at formal and substantive
theories of rights, and examine whether
or not rights require legalisation, in
particular, through a Bill of Rights.

Reading: Waldron, A Rights-Based
Critique of Constitutional Rights (1993)

Additional readings: Michael Kirby, A
Bill of Rights for Australia But do we
need it? (1995) 21 Commonwealth
Law Bulletin 276; Waldron, Rights in
Conflict (1989) 99(3) Ethics 503;
Patapan, Competing Visions of
Liberalism: Theoretical underpinnings
of the Bill of Rights debate in Australia
(1997) 21 Melbourne University Law
Review 497
Bill of Rights?
In this final tutorial,
we examine the
debate over a Bill of
Rights in Australia.

Should we have a
Bill of Rights, and if
so, what form
should it take? What
rights should be
included? To whom
should they apply?
Who should decide
when rights come
into conflict?
STUVAC 09 June STUVAC Take home due
EXAMS 16 June EXAM PERIOD commences
* NB: Public holidays on Friday 18 April, Friday 25 April, Monday 09 June.

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READING REQUIREMENTS
All required readings will be available from the Copy Centre. Additional readings that are
books will be available in Fisher Special Reserve; journal articles will be accessible online
through the Librarys eReadings system and other online materials will be on Blackboard.
ONLINE COMPONENTS
Lecture notes, tutorial activities, all assessment materials, and any other relevant materials
will be made available through the units Blackboard. There will also be a unit discussion
board, participation on which will count towards your course participation mark.
This unit requires regular use of the Universitys Learning Management System (LMS), also
known as Blackboard Learn. You will need reliable access to a computer and the Internet to
use the LMS.
The easiest way to access is through MyUni (click on the MyUni link on the university home
page, http://sydney.edu.au or link directly to the service at https://myuni.sydney.edu.au/.
There is a BlackBoard LMS icon in the QuickLaunch window on the left hand side of the
screen.
If you have any difficulties logging in or using the system, visit the Student Help area of the
LMS site, http://sydney.edu.au/elarning/student/help/.
Mobile Learn
You can also access your LMS sites via the Sydney Uni App for iPhone and Android. The
full set of features available on the mobile app for the University LMS can be found in detail
in this PDF document: Features in the mobile App for the University LMS (PDF)
To download the University of Sydney mobile app directly to your phone or mobile device
you need to be able to access the marketplace associated with your device's operating
system.
iTunes store on your iPhone/ iPod touch or iPad
Play Store or the Android Marketplace (depending on the phone's OS)
BlackBerry App World on your BlackBerry smartphone device
Palm App Catalog on your HP webOS device
Once you are at the marketplace or app store:
1. Search for University of Sydney
2. Install the app
3. Open the app and click on the icon 'Bb Learn' to access the LMS
4. Login to the LMS with your UniKey and password.
Important: due to the limitations of mobile devices you cannot submit assignments using the
assignment tool. You should not complete graded tests (quizzes) using your mobile device
due to the possibility of internet drop out.
The Universitys Privacy Management Plan governs how the University will deal with
personal information related to the content and use of its web sites. See
http://sydney.edu.au/privacy.shtml for further details.



11
ASSESSMENT TASKS AND DUE DATES

Participation & 5x weekly reflections 20% Throughout semester
Optional essay introduction/plan & criticism (5%) Due 8/15 April 2014
2000 word essay 40% Due 6 May 2014
2000 word final take home exam 40% Due 13 June 2014

Weekly reading summaries and tutorial participation (half a page, 20%)
Students must hand in short critical reflections on 5 weeks readings. These reflections are
to be around half a page to a page; no more. They are not intended to be comprehensive
summaries of the details of the readings; rather, they are meant to focus on one idea or
issue dealt with in the reading. The reflections are to be handed in during tutorials, and are
intended to form the basis for participation in those tutorials.
These reflections will be worth 2% each. Students have latitude to decide upon which weeks
readings they reflect.
Tutorial participation will be marked on attendance, evidence of reading, class contribution
and courtesy towards and listening to others. Mere attendance without contribution will not
be sufficient to pass this component of the course.
The 20% mark will normally comprise 10% reading summaries and 10% tutorial
participation. Students are expected to participate fully in tutorials; however, discretion may
be given to students who may have qualms about speaking up in class. In these cases, the
reading summaries may form a larger percentage of the final mark.
Essay (2000wd, 40%)
The essay will be on material from the first eight weeks. There will be a choice of essay
questions, each of which will cover at least 2 weeks material. Students will have the option
of writing their own question, which must again refer to at least 2 weeks material. The
purpose of these essays is to make a sustained critical argument as an answer to the
question, drawing on the material.
Essays are not intended to be simple summaries of the material; rather, they should put
forward a particular point of view and defend that point of view.
Optional essay introduction/plan and criticism (500wd/250wd, 5%)
Students will have the option of writing a ~500 word introduction/essay plan for the longer
essay. This plan will be submitted both to the markers and to a fellow student (who also
submitted an essay plan) for comment (~250wd). The critical comment is to be handed back
within one week. The purpose of this is twofold: first, for the student submitting the essay
plan to have some early feedback on their ideas; second, for the student commenting on the
essay plan to both sharpen their own ideas and to critically evaluate the work of another.
This peer marking process, while critical, should be undertaken in a generous and helpful
spirit, and not primarily for the purpose of nitpicking.
Students who hand in an essay plan will receive both the markers comments and the
comments from their peer marker. Students are advised that more feedback generally leads
to higher essay marks. The 5% for the essay plan and criticism will form part of the 40% for
the essay.
Take-Home Exam (2000wd, 40%)
The take-home exam will take the form of a critical response to two questions relating to the
final part of the course. The exam will comprise three questions, of which students must
choose two. Each question will require reference to multiple weeks readings, mainly from
weeks 8-13. Answers should show a detailed understanding and critical evaluation of the

12
course material and the ability to draw connections between the different parts of the course.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
This unit uses standards referenced assessment for award of assessment marks. Students
assessment will be evaluated solely on the basis of students achievement against criteria
and standards specified to align with learning outcomes. For reference to criteria and
standards, please consult the grade descriptors for the Department of Philosophy at
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/philosophy/undergrad/grade_descriptors.shtml.
CHANGES TO GRADE CODES IN 2014
As the University moves to adopt a new online student management system in 2014, there
will be some changes to the grade codes that are used to report on your results. This will not
affect the standards you are expected to meet in order to achieve a Pass, Credit, Distinction
or High Distinction grade, but your academic transcript may look a little different from mid-
year onwards.
The University will keep students updated on the timing of these changes throughout the
year. You can also check in with the Ask Sydney website for help with understanding the
common grade codes that appear on your academic transcript.
SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN WORK
Compliance Statements
All students are required to submit an authorised statement of compliance with all work
submitted to the University for assessment, presentation or publication. A statement of
compliance certifies that no part of the Work constitutes a breach of Academic Dishonesty
and Plagiarism Policy.
The format of the compliance statement will differ depending on the method required for
submitting your work (see Assessment Submission below). Depending on the submission
method, the statement must be in the form of:
a. a University assignment cover sheet;
b. a University electronic form; or
c. a University written statement.
Assessment Submission
Written work must be submitted both online via the Blackboard site for this Unit of Study,
and in hard copy at the SOPHI Office (Lobby H, level 3, Quadrangle) by 4pm on the due
date. The hard copy is the primary submission, and late penalties will apply to that version.
The online copy is a backup in case your hard copy is lost or misplaced. Online tasks must
be completed by 11.59pm on the due date.
You must complete, sign and attach a cover sheet/compliance statement to any written work
handed in for assessment.
Essays and assignments not submitted on or before the due date are subject to penalty.
Refer to http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/late_work.shtml for the Policy on Late
Work.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PLAGIARISM
Academic honesty is a core value of the University. The University requires students to act
honestly, ethically and with integrity in their dealings with the University, its members,
members of the public and others. The University is opposed to and will not tolerate

13
academic dishonesty or plagiarism, and will treat all allegations of academic dishonesty or
plagiarism seriously.
The Universitys Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy 2012 and associated
Procedures are available for reference on the University Policy Register at
http://sydney.edu.au/policies (enter Academic Dishonesty in the search field). The Policy
applies to the academic conduct of all students enrolled in a coursework award course at the
University.
Under the terms and definitions of the Policy,
academic dishonesty means seeking to obtain or obtaining academic advantage
(including in the assessment or publication of work) by dishonest or unfair means or
knowingly assisting another student to do so.
plagiarism means presenting another persons work as ones own work by
presenting, copying or reproducing it without appropriate acknowledgement of the
source.
The presentation of another person's work as one's own without appropriate
acknowledgement is regarded as plagiarism, regardless of the authors intentions.
Plagiarism can be classified as negligent (negligent plagiarism) or dishonest (dishonest
plagiarism).
An examiner who suspects academic dishonesty or plagiarism by a student must report the
suspicion to a nominated academic in the relevant faculty. If the nominated academic
concludes that the student has engaged in dishonest plagiarism or some other sufficiently
serious form of academic dishonesty, the matter may be referred to the Registrar for further
disciplinary action under the terms of the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy 2012
and Chapter 8 of the University of Sydney By-Law 1999 (as amended).
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences assesses student requests for assistance relating to
completion of assessment in accordance with the regulations set out in the University
Assessment Policy 2011 and Assessment Procedures 2011. Students are expected to
become familiar with the Universitys policies and Faculty procedures relating to Special
Consideration and Special Arrangements.
Students can apply for:
Special Consideration - for serious illness or misadventure
Special Arrangements - for essential community commitments
Simple Extension an extension of up to 5 working days for non-examination
based assessment tasks on the grounds of illness or misadventure.
Further information on special consideration policy and procedures is available on the
Faculty website at http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/special_consideration.shtml.
OTHER POLICIES AND PROCEDURES RELEVANT TO THIS UNIT OF STUDY
The Facultys Student Administration Manual is available for reference at the Current
Students section of the Faculty Website (http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/). Most
day-to-day issues you encounter in the course of completing this Unit of Study can be
addressed with the information provided in the Manual. It contains detailed instructions on
processes, links to forms and guidance on where to get further assistance.


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STAYING ON TOP OF YOUR STUDY
For full information visit http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/staying_on_top.shtml
The Learning Centre assists students to develop the generic skills, which are necessary for
learning and communicating knowledge and ideas at university. Programs available at The
Learning Centre include workshops in Academic Reading and Writing, Oral communications
Skills, Postgraduate Research Skills, Honours, masters Coursework Program, Studying at
University, and Workshops for English Language and Learning. Further information about
The Learning Centre can be found at http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/learning_centre/.
The Write Site provides online support to help you develop your academic and professional
writing skills. All University of Sydney staff and students who have a Unikey can access the
WriteSite at http://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/.
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has units at both an Undergraduate and
Postgraduate level that focus on writing across the curriculum or, more specifically, writing
in the disciplines, making them relevant for all university students. To find out more visit
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/writing_hub/index.shtml and
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/pg_writing_support/index.shtml.
In addition to units of study on writing, The FASS Writing Hub offers drop-in sessions to
assist students with their writing in a one-to-one setting. No appointment is necessary, and
this service is free of charge to all FASS students and/or all students enrolled in WRIT units.
For more information on what topics are covered in a drop-in session and for the current
schedule, please visit
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/writing_hub/drop_in_sessions.shtml.
Pastoral and academic support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is
provided by the STAR Team in Student Support services, a dedicated team of professional
Aboriginal people able to respond to the needs of students across disciplines. The STAR
team can assist with tutorial support, mentoring support, cultural and pastoral care along
with a range of other services. More information about support for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students can be found at
http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/student_services/indigenous_support.shtml.
The Library offers students free, online tutorials in library skills
at http://sydney.edu.au/library/skills. There's one designed especially for students studying in
the Humanities and Social Sciences at http://sydney.edu.au/library/subjects/subject.html.
And don't forget to find out who your Faculty Liaison Librarians are.
OTHER SUPPORT SERVICES
Disability Services is located on Level 5, Jane Foss Russell Building G20; contact 8627 8422
or email mailto:disability.services@sydney.edu.au. For further information, visit their website
at http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/disability/.
Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) are located on Level 5, Jane Foss Russell
Building G20; contact 8627 8433 or email mailto:caps.admin@sydney.edu.au. For further
information, visit their website at http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/counselling/.