Application
This unit describes the skills required to define legal issues, undertake research, identify legal principles and communicate results. This includes performing prosecution duties in a professional, ethical and accountable manner that ensures public confidence in the police.
This unit applies to police prosecutors undertaking legal research as part of their preparation for delivering a case.
The skills and knowledge described in this unit must be applied within the legislative, regulatory and policy environment in which they are carried out. Organisational policies and procedures must be consulted and adhered to, particularly those related to information management and security and safe use of information technology.
Those undertaking this unit would generally work autonomously within a court/justice system environment but may be required to work under supervision at times. They will be required to conduct sophisticated research tasks and demonstrate adaptability across a broad range of contexts.
No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to unit at the time of publication.
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENTS | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA |
Elements describe the essential outcomes | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. Where bold italicised text is used, further information is detailed in the range of conditions section. |
1. Define legal issues | 1.1 Analyse information to determine factual situation. 1.2 Evaluate information to identify legal issues requiring research. |
2. Undertake research | 2.1 Define search parameters to narrow the scope of enquiry. 2.2 Identify sources of law to address the identified legal issue. 2.3 Develop research strategies based on subject, case, legislation, instrument or other relevant search terms. 2.4 Implement research strategies to locate sources of law. |
3. Identify legal principles | 3.1 Interpret sources of law to facilitate critical analysis. 3.2 Analyse sources of law critically to distil the legal precedent and determine application to the legal issue. 3.3 Formulate response to the legal issue based on research. 3.4 Communicate responses to inform stakeholders. |
Evidence of Performance
Evidence required to demonstrate competence must satisfy all of the requirements of the elements and performance criteria. If not otherwise specified the candidate must demonstrate evidence of performance of the following on at least one occasion.
defining issues and parameters for research
identifying sources of information
developing and implementing research strategies
interpreting law and legal precedent
applying research to brief to provide legal opinion
developing recommendations
Evidence of Knowledge
Evidence required to demonstrate competence must satisfy all of the requirements of the elements and performance criteria. If not otherwise specified the depth of knowledge demonstrated must be appropriate to the job context of the candidate.
current Commonwealth, national, state or territory legislation, jurisdictional policies and procedures which regulate the Rules of Evidence
jurisdictional information management systems and legal databases
sources of law
stakeholder roles and responsibilities
legal research methodologies
organisational policy and procedures
Assessment Conditions
This unit contains no specific industry-mandated assessment conditions. Guidance on suggested and recommended conditions and methods can be found in the Implementation Guide.
Consideration must be given to holistic assessment for this unit. Refer to advice in the companion volumes.
Assessors must satisfy the NVR/AQTF mandatory competency requirements for assessors.
Foundation Skills
The foundation skills demands of this unit have been mapped for alignment with the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF). The following tables outline the performance levels indicated for successful attainment of the unit.
Further information on ACSF and the foundation skills underpinning this unit can be found in the Foundation Skills Guide on the GSA website.
Competency Field
Prosecution