With June just around the corner, in fact only a few minutes away as I write this, it means that winter is settling over the great southern land. However, from a Canadian perspective calling this season "winter" is nothing short of generous. Australian winters, even those in mountainous areas such as Canberra lack the sting of their Canadian equivalent. I imagine that now in Canada, as summer approaches the weather is turning sunnier, warmer and muggier.
To be fair to Australia, it does get snow occasionally. The Great Dividing Range, the mountain chain along the eastern coast rises to the heights of the Appalachians and does get frequent snow. There are places in the mountains, like Thredbo and Perisher Blue that serve as ski resorts. Sometimes it even snows on top in the summer, though that is rare. Canberra, which sits at an elevation of 571 meters above sea level, gets snow roughly once every 3 years but it rarely lasts the day. As of now, the weather is still sunny with daytime temperatures close to 20C, with today being a very warm day in the sun. Perhaps this winter will be milder than usual, but we'll see. The most fair statement about Australian weather is that it can be very bizarre. In 2006 in November, approaching the beginning of summer, a rapidly moving cold front powered its way along the east coast of the country. With it came very low temperatures and flurries, all the way to southern Queensland. This would be equivalent to a place like Miami receiving snow at the end of May.
The week in Canberra has been very quiet and I haven't really done much. My exams are in about 2 weeks time so I have begun to settle down and study. I think I've got a handle on things in the legal world. Today, I goal umpired 2 games the second of which was particularly exciting as it was decided by a single point. I've been going to training on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I think its begun to pay off. In addition to improving my technique, I think I've also been getting into much better shape. I have longer endurance and I think I've even lost some weight. As I don't have a bathroom scale it's hard to tell. I think the colder air at night is helping me. For the first few weeks I had to adjust to the higher altitude but now my body has adapted by producing more red blood cells to carry oxygen. The denser cold air has a higher percentage of oxygen in it than warmer air so when I draw breath, I'm actually oxygenating myself more efficiently. This translates into the endurance increase that I've noticed and the training regimen has no doubt helped as well.
Also today, our floor leader, Lisa, organized a special dinner for us, paid for out of the floor budget. It was Turkish food and very delicious. There was lamb, rice, spinach balls and other assorted items. We all had our fill and left quite sated. I also learned that some family friends from Ottawa are in town and I anxiously wait to meet them, I'll be calling them tomorrow to set up a time and place. Andre, a longtime friend and recent med school graduate is also in Australia, though in the Red Center at the moment. He'll be in Canberra in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to hearing his stories of the emergency room. He once spent 3 weeks in a south-central Los Angeles hospital on an exchange and I really want to hear all about that.
With winter officially starting June 1, I thought I'd take this opportunity to mention some Aussie customs which are normal down here but are unusual to outsiders. First of all, you may have noticed that they count the seasons differently. In North America, seasons begin on an equinox or a solstice, but here it's always the first of a month: June (winter), September (spring), December (summer) and March (fall). If I'm not mistaken, Australians do not use the word "autumn" at all and simply use "fall". In Australia, ketchup is called "tomato (toh-MAH-to) sauce" though I'm told that ketchup down here refers to tomato sauce that has sugar added. Australians call "beets" "beet root" (though it's actually a tuber) and they put it on hamburgers. Sausages are called "snags", they're larger versions of breakfast sausages and you eat them by folding a normal piece of sliced bread. It's actually very efficient since you can get more snags in bread that way. The second storey of a building is called the "first floor" while the ground floor is simply called the "ground floor", which means that building floors are numbered G-1-2-3-etc.. A ute is a uniquely Australian vehicle. Short for "utility" imagine a cross between a Honda Civic and a pickup truck and you'll get the idea. I'll take a picture of one and post it sometime.
Now for some Aussie slang. A "bogan" (BOW-gun) is a person sort of akin to a "redneck" but not really. If you come to Australia, someone will be able to explain the physical and personality characteristics of a bogan. "Goon" is wine in a box and "hooning" is the practice of suping up cars, usually utes, then tearing down the streets at ridiculous speeds. You'll learn many more phrases and words if you come Down Under.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Passing Judgement
This week has been a little more exciting than previous weeks. I had a great time at trivia and I matched wits with some judges from around the country. One of those judges happened to appear before the High Court in some very important decisions. I also learned of an important difference between Australian and Canadian law.
On Sunday, there was a hall-wide trivia contest with each floor sending representatives. The top prize was $100.00 towards the winning floor's budget. I ended up representing my floor as everyone else left me out to dry like the proverbial towel that I am. I was not alone as two ladies, one from a different floor and the other from the Rex Hotel across the street, joined with me. The Rex Hotel serves as overflow accommodation for students who have been accepted into residence but there is no place to put them. It ended up being the 3 of us against many more much larger teams. Somehow, through knowledge and luck, we managed to pull off a victory! It was agreed that since I had started the game alone (they came a few minutes in) and we were all, effectively, representing floor South Six, the $100.00 prize would go entirely to my floor. Needless to say, I was pretty proud of myself for the next few days.
On Wednesday, I had a marvelous opportunity to interact with judges from across Australia. They were at ANU as part of a National Judicial College of Australia conference. There were only about 20 of them altogether, and a few law students thrown in for good measure. At one point, while discussing a fictional manslaughter case, the host (also a judge) pointed at me to give the first opinion as to the proper sentence. I was a little stunned as I realized that all ears, at than moment, were turned to me. I mentioned that this was only my first semester of my first year at law school and I hadn't done any sentencing courses (which I don't believe are taught). The judge smiled and said that that fact made me more qualified than most judges and I was half-way to the High Court. Everyone had a chuckle and I gave my opinion. After everyone had gone through their's, I noted that my sentence fell somewhere in the middle. I hope to one day do this for real, hopefully at the highest appellate levels.
One of the judges, from Queensland, I learned had been counsel for the state government on several important cases before the High Court. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, aboriginal land claims came to a head in 3 famous cases: Mabo 1, Mabo 2 and Wik. Mabo 1 decided that a particular Queensland law purporting to extinguish native land title rights was contrary to the Commonwealth's anti-racial discrimination legislation, making it unconstitutional. Mabo 2 further ruled that the legal principle which had given the Crown supposed sovereignty over all Australia, terra nullius, was a factual error. Terra nullius held that any lands not already settled at the time of colonization were wastelands open to all. Since aboriginal peoples had no concept of exclusive ownership, it was held, for a long time, that Australia was an empty land, legally speaking. Mabo 2 made it clear that terra nullius was patently false and the the common law recognizes the communal ownership concepts of the aboriginals. The Wik decision held that pastoral leases did not extinguish native title. I was very interested to hear what this judge had to say about those cases and I think my conversations with him gave me a unique insight into those famous cases.
That same night, I went upon invitation to the Solomkos, a Ukrainian family in the area. They had invited me to watch State of Origin with them, the sort of Superbowl of Rugby League. In this case New South Wales and Queensland square off in a best-of-three series held over six weeks; this was the first game. While there I met an interesting man named Wally, from Perth, a Scottish-Australian who's a bit of a Ukrainophile. He works for Air Services Australia (sort of like Navcan) but he used to be a pilot and a crash investigator. I always enjoy going to the Solomkos as they are some of the friendliest and most hospitable people I've ever met.
Finally, in criminal procedure we've begun to learn about property offences, most notably theft. I was intrigued to learn that in Australia, to constitute theft, a personal must intend to permanently deprive the owner of that thing. I understand that this is the law in the UK as well. I looked through the Criminal Code of Canada and found that theft under s 322 clearly states that the intent necessary is merely to deprive be it temporarily or permanently (absolutely is the statutory language used). This would make certain things theft in Canada, but not in Australia. The differences between the systems never stop to amaze me.
All in all, I think this has been a very good and educational week.
On Sunday, there was a hall-wide trivia contest with each floor sending representatives. The top prize was $100.00 towards the winning floor's budget. I ended up representing my floor as everyone else left me out to dry like the proverbial towel that I am. I was not alone as two ladies, one from a different floor and the other from the Rex Hotel across the street, joined with me. The Rex Hotel serves as overflow accommodation for students who have been accepted into residence but there is no place to put them. It ended up being the 3 of us against many more much larger teams. Somehow, through knowledge and luck, we managed to pull off a victory! It was agreed that since I had started the game alone (they came a few minutes in) and we were all, effectively, representing floor South Six, the $100.00 prize would go entirely to my floor. Needless to say, I was pretty proud of myself for the next few days.
On Wednesday, I had a marvelous opportunity to interact with judges from across Australia. They were at ANU as part of a National Judicial College of Australia conference. There were only about 20 of them altogether, and a few law students thrown in for good measure. At one point, while discussing a fictional manslaughter case, the host (also a judge) pointed at me to give the first opinion as to the proper sentence. I was a little stunned as I realized that all ears, at than moment, were turned to me. I mentioned that this was only my first semester of my first year at law school and I hadn't done any sentencing courses (which I don't believe are taught). The judge smiled and said that that fact made me more qualified than most judges and I was half-way to the High Court. Everyone had a chuckle and I gave my opinion. After everyone had gone through their's, I noted that my sentence fell somewhere in the middle. I hope to one day do this for real, hopefully at the highest appellate levels.
One of the judges, from Queensland, I learned had been counsel for the state government on several important cases before the High Court. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, aboriginal land claims came to a head in 3 famous cases: Mabo 1, Mabo 2 and Wik. Mabo 1 decided that a particular Queensland law purporting to extinguish native land title rights was contrary to the Commonwealth's anti-racial discrimination legislation, making it unconstitutional. Mabo 2 further ruled that the legal principle which had given the Crown supposed sovereignty over all Australia, terra nullius, was a factual error. Terra nullius held that any lands not already settled at the time of colonization were wastelands open to all. Since aboriginal peoples had no concept of exclusive ownership, it was held, for a long time, that Australia was an empty land, legally speaking. Mabo 2 made it clear that terra nullius was patently false and the the common law recognizes the communal ownership concepts of the aboriginals. The Wik decision held that pastoral leases did not extinguish native title. I was very interested to hear what this judge had to say about those cases and I think my conversations with him gave me a unique insight into those famous cases.
That same night, I went upon invitation to the Solomkos, a Ukrainian family in the area. They had invited me to watch State of Origin with them, the sort of Superbowl of Rugby League. In this case New South Wales and Queensland square off in a best-of-three series held over six weeks; this was the first game. While there I met an interesting man named Wally, from Perth, a Scottish-Australian who's a bit of a Ukrainophile. He works for Air Services Australia (sort of like Navcan) but he used to be a pilot and a crash investigator. I always enjoy going to the Solomkos as they are some of the friendliest and most hospitable people I've ever met.
Finally, in criminal procedure we've begun to learn about property offences, most notably theft. I was intrigued to learn that in Australia, to constitute theft, a personal must intend to permanently deprive the owner of that thing. I understand that this is the law in the UK as well. I looked through the Criminal Code of Canada and found that theft under s 322 clearly states that the intent necessary is merely to deprive be it temporarily or permanently (absolutely is the statutory language used). This would make certain things theft in Canada, but not in Australia. The differences between the systems never stop to amaze me.
All in all, I think this has been a very good and educational week.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
A Quiet Week
As most weeks in life, this one has been uneventful. Curiously, nothing of considerable interest tends to happen in my life; must be me. Well, I'm generally pretty quite and reserved so I don't have occasion to find exciting things. I like sitting at home and I don't go out to pubs much, though this is more for economic reasons rather than me being averse to the proposition.
In my Foundations of Australian Law tutorial, we were asked to bring in any statutes we wanted for discussion. Our focus now is statutory interpretation, which will be on the exam (it is the exam), and it did not matter what kind of statute or from where. I brought in the Code of Ur-Nammu, an ancient Sumerian legal code. Written around 2100 BCE, it is the oldest legal code still in existence, which may mean it is the oldest legislative act still in existence. Although older legal codes are mentioned in ancient texts, none have as yet been found to have survived the blasting sands of time.
On Friday, I went to an international law students gathering where I was approached to be the JD representative on the Law Students Society. I mentioned that I was amenable to the suggestion and I think I will take them up on the offer. While there will still have to be an election, if someone else chooses to run, I look forward to representing my fellow JDs if I get the chance.
Today, a cold front has moved in and the weather was pretty miserable. I goal umpired a game at the Australian Defence Force Academy and while the rain had stopped by game time, the wind was pretty biting. It's supposed to warm up by Monday and be sunny again, so that's something to look forward to.
This last week at Fenner Hall has been Multicultural Week, with many events like a showcase of cultures and an Australian country dance and barbecue. Sunday is trivia night which I eagerly anticipate. Hopefully, I can help my floor to victory.
In my Foundations of Australian Law tutorial, we were asked to bring in any statutes we wanted for discussion. Our focus now is statutory interpretation, which will be on the exam (it is the exam), and it did not matter what kind of statute or from where. I brought in the Code of Ur-Nammu, an ancient Sumerian legal code. Written around 2100 BCE, it is the oldest legal code still in existence, which may mean it is the oldest legislative act still in existence. Although older legal codes are mentioned in ancient texts, none have as yet been found to have survived the blasting sands of time.
On Friday, I went to an international law students gathering where I was approached to be the JD representative on the Law Students Society. I mentioned that I was amenable to the suggestion and I think I will take them up on the offer. While there will still have to be an election, if someone else chooses to run, I look forward to representing my fellow JDs if I get the chance.
Today, a cold front has moved in and the weather was pretty miserable. I goal umpired a game at the Australian Defence Force Academy and while the rain had stopped by game time, the wind was pretty biting. It's supposed to warm up by Monday and be sunny again, so that's something to look forward to.
This last week at Fenner Hall has been Multicultural Week, with many events like a showcase of cultures and an Australian country dance and barbecue. Sunday is trivia night which I eagerly anticipate. Hopefully, I can help my floor to victory.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Esperance sans peur (Hope Without Fear)
I took the title of this post from a quote which I heard in one of my tutorial sessions. I don't remember who said it, but I believe it was a judge. In this last week, I learned something which gave me hope that I just might have some talent with the law. There is now hope without fear.
Before I tell of my hopeful occurrence, I'll just summarize the rather mundane week I have had. With final exams about 1 month away, most everyone is anxious to do well and so study is the standing order. I wish I could say I had seen something interesting or been somewhere spectacular, but I have not. This week has been notable only for it's warm temperatures, roughly 20C, which makes everything very enjoyable.
That which gave me hope is a statement made by a law professor with regards to an argument I put forward in my torts exam. The actual details of the problem are somewhat technical, and uninteresting to anyone not studying law, but the most important fact was that it involved 2 wrestlers, one of whom was pinned to the mat so that her face was pressed against it. I argued that this was a particularly dangerous move because it prevented the player from withdrawing their consent to the match. This is important because in law, you consent to legal contact in sports but not to dangerous contact. The professor said that it was the most original argument put forward on that point of the exam. The professor's statement was circulated in a post-exam debrief to all students, so I feel that I can be justifiably proud of myself. This gives me the hope to carry on.
I've posted more photos on my blog below and I'll post photos from my Sydney trip sometime in the future. Until then, good night and good luck.
Before I tell of my hopeful occurrence, I'll just summarize the rather mundane week I have had. With final exams about 1 month away, most everyone is anxious to do well and so study is the standing order. I wish I could say I had seen something interesting or been somewhere spectacular, but I have not. This week has been notable only for it's warm temperatures, roughly 20C, which makes everything very enjoyable.
That which gave me hope is a statement made by a law professor with regards to an argument I put forward in my torts exam. The actual details of the problem are somewhat technical, and uninteresting to anyone not studying law, but the most important fact was that it involved 2 wrestlers, one of whom was pinned to the mat so that her face was pressed against it. I argued that this was a particularly dangerous move because it prevented the player from withdrawing their consent to the match. This is important because in law, you consent to legal contact in sports but not to dangerous contact. The professor said that it was the most original argument put forward on that point of the exam. The professor's statement was circulated in a post-exam debrief to all students, so I feel that I can be justifiably proud of myself. This gives me the hope to carry on.
I've posted more photos on my blog below and I'll post photos from my Sydney trip sometime in the future. Until then, good night and good luck.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Once More Unto the Breach
This being the first week back, the theme has been getting back into the routine. The last week has been fairly uneventful with the only thing of note being the return of the torts mid-semester exam. I received a grade of "Credit" which is defined as "work of good quality". This effectively means I am at the level, or perhaps slightly ahead, of where I would normally be expected to be.
Grades in Australian universities are divided into the following categories: High Distinction (HD), Distinction (D), Credit (C), Pass (P) and Fail (N). From what I'm told, it is extremely difficult to get HDs and Ds at law school. All any of us can do is our best and I did my best on the torts exam.
The exam itself was called "redeemable" which means that if I do better than a credit on my final exam, my marks wil be adjusted such that I will be given the higher mark. I'm also anxious to see how I did on my other assignments, or, as they are called down here, assessments.
Aside from the return to school, nothing of importance has occurred this week. I continue to umpire, although tonight I went to a pub with some of my floormates. With the return of assessments coming up, though, it will give me a good prima facia look at my legal studies; where I need to improve and where I'm excelling.
Grades in Australian universities are divided into the following categories: High Distinction (HD), Distinction (D), Credit (C), Pass (P) and Fail (N). From what I'm told, it is extremely difficult to get HDs and Ds at law school. All any of us can do is our best and I did my best on the torts exam.
The exam itself was called "redeemable" which means that if I do better than a credit on my final exam, my marks wil be adjusted such that I will be given the higher mark. I'm also anxious to see how I did on my other assignments, or, as they are called down here, assessments.
Aside from the return to school, nothing of importance has occurred this week. I continue to umpire, although tonight I went to a pub with some of my floormates. With the return of assessments coming up, though, it will give me a good prima facia look at my legal studies; where I need to improve and where I'm excelling.
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