Skip to 0 minutes and 12 seconds LLOYD ENGLAND: Hello, I’m Lloyd England. A justice of the peace, and a law lecturer here at Monash University– Faculty of Law– Melbourne, Australia. This course is for everyone. The law is literally everywhere. Governing all aspects of our behavior. Can you think of an area of your life that isn’t governed by law? I don’t think there are many. In fact, I don’t think there are any. Imagine a world where everyone behaved lawfully. Wouldn’t you like to bring your kids up in that sort of a world? I’ve assembled barristers, solicitors, judges from the Monash Law Faculty, and together we are going to explore some fundamental doctrines of law.
Skip to 0 minutes and 48 seconds ROSS HYAMS: The law is everywhere. It intersects with people’s lives all over the place. So everything you do has some intersection with law. A lot of people get in trouble with the law because they don’t understand either their rights or their obligations.
Skip to 0 minutes and 57 seconds MELISSA CASTAN: Legal information used to be locked up in books like we see behind me. And now quite esoteric and hard to read and difficult to access. But now we all have the capacity to access the law. We’re all walking around with a little, miniature supercomputer in our pockets. Imagine if you could use that to actually understand what all the rules and responsibilities are that every person has.
Skip to 1 minute and 21 seconds NICOLE MOLLARD: There’s a sense that law is a discrete area that only lawyers know about. And yet law affects everything that we do every day. You’d be amazed how many laws you could breach in five minutes on Facebook.
Skip to 1 minute and 36 seconds LLOYD ENGLAND: Together we will explore the world of contracts where people decide to make mutual binding obligations and agreements. Criminal Law– where society itself governs the behavior of its citizens. Torts Law– tortious liability is like a jellyfish with tentacles stretching far and wide. Touching each and every one of us. You owe people a duty of care you may have never even met. Intellectual Property Law, which tries to look after ideas and expressions of ideas so that we can drive innovation, and move our society forward. The law is literally everywhere. Whether you drive a car, buy goods and services, lease a flat when you get married, or go to work under a contract of employment.
Skip to 2 minutes and 18 seconds Human rights, animal rights, security, privacy– all of this is governed by law.
Skip to 2 minutes and 23 seconds ROSS HYAMS: There’s a lot of legal mythology out there. People who hear information passed from person to person, word of mouth. And it’s often wrong. And so it’s very important that people get the right understanding of the laws, and that’s essential for them to actually understand their position.
Skip to 2 minutes and 36 seconds NICOLE MOLLARD: That tree of yours that hangs over the fence that irritates your neighbor beyond words– what are your obligations in relation to that? If your neighbor decides to cut that tree down, have they done a wrong by you? If your neighbor decides to pick all the fruit from your overhanging tree, have they done a wrong by you? If they turn that fruit into jam, can you ask for the jam back? If you have a reasonable idea of your obligations towards your neighbor, and your neighbors towards you, you’re much more likely to live harmoniously.
Skip to 3 minutes and 10 seconds LLOYD ENGLAND: This is law for everybody– this is law for you. Enrol in this course and come and join us. I look forward to working with you.
Skip to 3 minutes and 18 seconds NICOLE MOLLARD: If a guy pushes you in the pub and spills your beer, does he have to buy you a new one?