R Creyke - Laying Down the Law, 10th Edition

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

2018 Reed International Books Australia Pty Limited trading as LexisNexis.

First edition 1985; Second edition 1988; Third edition 1992; Fourth edition 1995; Fifth edition 2000; Sixth edition 2005; Seventh edition 2008 (reprinted 2009, 2010, 2011); Eighth edition 2012; Ninth edition 2015 (reprinted 2015).

This book is copyright. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process, electronic or otherwise, without the specific written permission of the copyright owner. Neither may information be stored electronically in any form whatsoever without such permission.

Inquiries should be addressed to the publishers.

Typeset in Optima and Bembo.

Printed in China.

Visit LexisNexis Butterworths at www.lexisnexis.com.au

Laying Down the Law, a popular introductory law text, has grown from a first edition of some 239 pages to a tenth edition of over 650 pages. The increase in size reflects the addition of material addressing issues of increasing significance to modern Australian law in areas such as human rights, the interaction of Indigenous people with the Australian legal system, the means to access information in this digital era, and the continuing evolution of legal doctrines, including a distinct Australian common law, as developed by the countrys judicial and tribunal systems.

The aim of the book is to ease the passage of new entrants to the world of the law. A foundational principle of Laying Down the Law has been that it contains the essential content of an introductory law text: understanding principles of precedent, court and tribunal structures, how to write in a style acceptable in the legal profession, and the rules for interpreting statutes and other legal documents. The book presents this material in a manner which is designed to develop, as efficiently and painlessly as possible, the skills needed for legal study. The authors believe that such a foundation best equips students effectively to absorb the content of courses focusing on specific areas of the law.

This edition sees a change in authorship, namely, the departure of two of the original four authors, Catriona Cook and Robert Geddes. They continued to contribute to previous editions of Laying Down the Law despite their relocation from Canberra Catriona Cook to teach at Kings College, London, and Robert Geddes to the University of New England. Their willingness to be involved for such a length of time and the notable contributions each has made to this publication, particularly in the stylistic integrity of the work, its case law chapters, and the material on statutory interpretation, have undoubtedly contributed to the continuing usefulness of Laying Down the Law.

With their departure the team is fortunate to add new authors, Belinda Smith and Patrick OMara from the University of Sydney, who join David Hamer, also from that institution, with Tristan Taylor maintaining the contact with the University of New England, and Robin Creyke at the Australian National University.

Patrick OMara wishes to acknowledge Lesley Adukonu, Law Liaison Librarian at the Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, and co-author Belinda Smith for their help with the legal research chapters in the book.

Another departure is the books long-standing editor, Felicia Gardner. Felicias professionalism has added immeasurably to the readability of Laying Down the Law and her ability to work amiably with multiple authors has been welcomed by its authors during her long association with the text. Her place has been taken by Linda Nix, who has shown equal attention to layout and the readability of the text, and whose ability to critique content is valued by the authors.

We are fortunate to be guided by the hand of our excellent commissioning editor, Jocelyn Holmes, and her team at LexisNexis. Jocelyns deep understanding of the business of publishing, her sensitivity towards, and her care for the views of, her authors makes her an editor with whom it is a pleasure to work.

We hope this work, which embodies the experience, understanding and knowledge of its multiple authors, will benefit you, the readers. We trust this book will assist you in your introduction to the study of the law and its place in Australian society, a study that we hope will prove to be of lifetime worth to you all.

Robin Creyke
David Hamer
Patrick OMara
Belinda Smith
Tristan Taylor

1. Features

This text contains a number of features in each chapter to further your knowledge and understanding of the Australian legal system, and how to develop your legal study and research skills.

This book supports the learning outcomes that you are being taught at law school. The italicised text highlights which activities and readings will assist you to achieve a particular learning outcome.