Australian Law and Society: Bodies in barrels

Essay by boogerboy999Junior High, 8th gradeA+, June 2008

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Outline the difference between statute law and common law.

Statute Law refers to laws made by parliament. They have the highest status and must be followed by all people.

Common Law refers to laws that are established by the decisions of judges and is used when there is no appropriate statute law. When judges make a decision in relation to the matter, all lower courts must follow the decision, known as following precedent.

Outline one development in forensic science that has occurred during the past 50 years.

DNA profiling has been applied to forensic science since its development in 1984 by British geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys. DNA was first used as evidence in 1988 in the Enderby Case. A National DNA Database was set up in 1995, to handle the 3million samples of human DNA, half of which contain innocent people. DNA profiling is used for comparison of samples taken from crime scenes, and those of a suspect, victim or witness.

It can convict the guilty, acquit the innocent, or exonerate those wrongly accused or convicted, IF used correctly and in accumulation with other evidence.

Section 3

Explain how this development has helped the police to solve crimes in Australia.

The development of DNA cannot solve cases; rather...