Renmin University of China Love v Commonwealth Clear Facts and Legal Issues Paper

You are required to write a case study of the case Love v

Commonwealth (2020) 94 ALJR 198. You can find the case under the

Assignment Tasks and Submission link.

The case study should be written in essay format. For the purposes of the case study, you need to:

1) Set out succinctly and clearly the facts and legal issues of the case.

2)Explain the High Court reasoning in the case. You should cover thereasoning of both the majority and minority judges. Please provide anopinion on whether the reasoning in the judgments was appropriate orpersuasive and why.

3) Explain the significance of the case for the development of constitutional law.

4)Explain the political and/or social significance of the case. Here youcould also consider whether the High Court judges took the politicaland/or social significance of their decision into consideration in theirjudgment/s.

HOW TO SET ABOUT THE CASE STUDY

Firstlyread through Topic One in the study guide, and section 14.10 of thetextbook. This will help you put the case in context, in terms of whereit sits in constitutional law. Keep in mind that this case is one of aline of cases in which the High Court has looked at the application ofparticular sections of the Constitution to indigenous people.

Constitutionallaw cases are complex and long and you may find it difficult to workout what the judges are saying. Over the years the High Court judgeshave developed more accessible and structured judgment writing stylesbut the reasoning in these cases can still be very difficult tounderstand, particularly when you are encountering it for the firsttime. Keep in mind that you are writing a 2000 word essay and thatexplaining the reasoning is only one part of what you have to do. Youneed to be able to work out what is important and significant about thecase and look for the paragraphs in each judgment in which this iscovered. Then you should summarise this reasoning and think aboutwhether the reasoning is appropriate. Do you agree with the decision?Why or why not? Do you think that the judges should have taken otherfactors into account? You may conclude that the reasoning of theminority judges is more persuasive or appropriate and if so you shouldexplain this.

In addressing the political

and social significance of the case, you might want to reflect upon

broader issues of the dispossession of indigenous people from their land

through the colonisation process, and the fact that there is no

acknowledgement of this or of indigenous sovereignty in the Constitution

as it currently stands.