A Kominar Chronicle: In the beginning… 

Trial by battle was used in non-criminal cases, but it was based on a similar premise – that God would not allow a party in the wrong to be victorious. In a battle, the participants were each armed with a long staff and a leather shield, and the fight continued until one party gave up or was knocked unconscious. Infants, women and the elderly could employ ‘champions’ to fight in their stead. (The French word for field is ‘champs’: a champion was therefore someone who would take the field on your behalf.) Even though it became virtually obsolete by the end of the 13th century, the trial by battle was never formally abolished, much to the surprise of everyone involved, in Ashford v Thornton (1819) 1 B & Ald 405; 106 ER 149, one of the parties sought to claim the right to engage in battle in lieu of the ordinary court process. It was only then that the statute was (hurriedly) passed to abolish trial by this means: 59 Geo III, c 46.

_{Catriona Cook et al, Laying Down the Law (6th ed, 2005) 16-17}

Saturday was a resounding success. Not in any sort of monetary savings sort of way, but rather a having a lot of fun sort of way. BUSA (Bond University Students Association) held its regular Race Day event. For $25 you were provided: transportation down to the races; a private marquee for all Bondies; a well-catered cold lunch; drink UNspecials(we found better deals at the bar inside); transportation from the races over to Melba’s; a free alcoholic drink.

As you may have well expected all of this took place with everyone adorned in high fashion. The ladies were divine in their sun hats, and the gents looked like a respectable lot. Having the private marquee was a wonderful experience to meet and greet other students. There were some high rollers and some low rollers. Bets ranged from the $1 minimum up to rumours of a $2000 bet on a ‘sure thing’. I don’t know the outcome of the big money bets but everyone seemed in good spirits when we left so I don’t think any dreams were crushed that day. For the curious, I didn’t fare very well myself, losing $50 to the horses.

I sat on the bus to Melba’s with my friend Timmy and we had pleasant conversation.

By the time we made our way into Melbas everyone was hungry and ready to eat again. Luckily, Melbas is also a fine-dining restaurant and we could all sit down to eat relatively easily. The menu is full of delectables should you be willing to pay the price. I opted for some sort of plum sauce stir-fry and some crepes to top it all off. There are a few items that are of high value, they yield good quantity to price ratio.

Nathan and I inadvertently discovered an even better way to yield maximum results. Purely by accident we’d both start chatting with random groups of women who were enjoying casual conversation and food. I don’t recall the exact details of each encounter but usually the end result was them sneaking away at some point and leaving their food to us! You’ll find find one two pictures of our spoils. Our friends Danielle and Anthony tapped out after dinner and Nathan, Matt and I were left to dance the night away.

The rest of the night proceeded as one might expect at a night club. Drinks, dancing, girls, going home empty handed in a cab.

Whew! It’s finally over. I settled on buying a Canon Ixus 50 at Myers for a fair price. As I promised I’ve taken some photos of Pacific Fair Shopping Centre

I’ve made it through my first week of class and thought I should report back on the whole experience. As a general comment the whole experience has been very welcoming and interesting. All lectures on campus happen in the University Centre spread amongst the 10 theatres. Some are nicer than others; they range from small typical classroom desk/chairs to the giant Cerum Theatre which I couldn’t even venture to guess its maximum capacity. Simply out of interest maybe I’ll guess 3,000(to be verified later). However, there are a few oddities thrown into the mix just for fun. Unfortunately, the majority of my lectures take place in the tightly-packed, vertigo inducing room that is theatre 2. I’m not sure about safety regulations here (or back home either) but surely this theatre is not very safe. You need to stand at the top to appreciate the full dread of finding a seat and making your way to it without falling over. As always, I’ll be sure to capture the feeling as best I can when I settle on a digital camera.

Australian Legal System
Taught by James Corkery, ALS is a veritable crucible of miscellany. We’re to learn all things lawyerly in this class as well as history of the legal system. Topics include the following:

• Legal Writing
• Origins of Australia’s common law system
• Equity
• Hierarchy of the courts
• The legal profession
• Ethics
• Case law and judicial precedent
• Key doctrines: ratio decidendi and obiter dicta
• Statutory interpretation

There is also an advocacy exercise around week 5. It involves dressing up for court and entering a plea of guilty on behalf of a fictitious client. We’re then to do some mitigation of sentencing while being gently challenged by the judge. We were told that pictures are indeed allowed in the court and I will be sure to send you all some of my first time in front of an Australian judge! (Note: the judge consists of the professor or tutor leaders, but they’re just as dressed up as we are.) I’m looking forward to the mooting event as well as many others in my class.

Torts
Jo Hintz is responsible for teaching Torts and seems well capable of doing it justice. For those not in the know, a tort is a civil wrong (some criminal acts are also torts; battery) that deals with relationship between plaintiff’s interests and defendant’s conduct. There are elements of a tort that must be met in order to establish liability.

Elements of a Tort

• An act/omission by defendant
• Infringing an interest of plaintiff which is recognised by law
• Giving rise to a civil action
• For damages (Nominal, compensatory, aggravated, exemplary/punitive, contemptuous)

Functions of a Tort

• Deterring socially undesirably behaviour
• Compensating victims of wrongdoing
• Distributing losses

I’ve already done a class on Tort Law when I was at Guelph so I’m a little ahead of the game at this point. I’m aware of a lot of the issues that have been raised already and feel good about the outcome of the course.

Criminal Law & Procedure A
Eric Colvin is a big advocate of the JD program at Bond and constantly tours Canada attracting new students. He was the Law Professor at the two information sessions I attended in Burlington. It’s nice to see a semi-familiar face amongst the staff. The quality of the lecturing is phenomenal as he is very engaging and plays off of the students well. He does his best to bring humour into the subject material and I haven’t been let down so far. We cover a large range of criminal offences and here’s another list of some of them.

• Murder/Manslaughter
• Assault, Causing Bodily Harm, Wounding
• Sexual Violence, Fear and Fraud
• Property Offences
• Drugs Offences
• Lack of Will; Accident
• Mistake of Fact; Mistake of Law
• Insanity
• Inchoate Liability

As a point of interest, the Crim A tutor happens to be my next door neighbour! Also, on a more general note, the Law program tutor lives on the floor above me and is available for free consultations to all students living on campus. These are people who have received HD (High Distinction) in their respective courses.

Legal Skills
Is it a social faux-pas to have two crucibles? I’ll have to check the ettiquette books on this one but Legal Skills is another veritable crucible of learning. It’s a rather novel course that actually runs throughout the entire degree. Every week on Friday there is a two hour slot scheduled to learn legal skills. We’re only required to attend select sessions, approximately 4 weeks this semester. It’s equivalent to having workshops spread out throughout the semester, but heavily integrated into the curriculum. Kay Lauchland is the course coordinator but I have a feeling the skills are taught by an assortment of professors.