Mastering Legal Studies Essays I
Struggling with Legal Studies essay writing? Whether you’re preparing for the HSC or looking to improve your skills, having the right guidance is key. If you’re looking to boost your marks, this guide will give you the tools to write a concise and strong introduction that will set your essay up for Band 6 success.
Understanding Question Types
In HSC Legal Studies, essay questions typically fall into three categories:
1. Theme and Challenge Questions
These questions are drawn directly from the ‘Theme and Challenge’ section of your syllabus. For example, in the Crime syllabus, the themes might include balancing individual rights with community interests, compliance, or achieving justice.
Such questions often feature a command term like ‘Assess’ and may include a stimulus or reference to contemporary legal issues for the Options (World Order, Family, Shelter, Consumers, Workplace etc)
2. Section-Specific or Syllabus Dot-Point Questions
These questions come from the ‘Students Learn To’ column of the syllabus, focusing on specific areas. Any question that begins with “assess” or “evaluate” can be turned into entire essay questions, so ensure you have at least 3 paragraphs for each.
3. Combined Questions
Most HSC questions combine both a theme and challenge, and a specific syllabus section. Normally, the “easier” theme and challenges are put into these types of essays, and they go in well with the section.
For example, you won’t be asked to write a compliance + criminal trial, essay but you could be asked a compliance + criminal investigation essay, where it wouldn’t be too difficult to generate paragraph ideas – such as police powers (arrest, detention, strip searches).
Essay Structure
Introduction
Thesis Statement:
The thesis is the first sentence of your essay and should aim to ‘unpack the question’ – meaning identifying and expanding on the keywords. Most legal studies essays will start with an ‘assess’ ‘evaluate’ or ‘to what extent,’ requiring you to make a judgement on the effectiveness of the law – whether the law is significantly, moderately or of limited effectiveness in upholding/achieving the theme and challenge.
Most questions will include a theme and challenge, which will require you to specify the relevant rights/parties/ethical and moral standards. If the question uses a broad “achieving justice” as an evaluative criteria, you can select a theme and challenge that aligns with the question (or your favourite/most well known content) and analyse the law through that lens. It’s important to note that the same law may be highly effective at upholding one T&C (such as compliance) but be of limited effectiveness in upholding another (ie, it might abrogate the individual right to privacy and liberty in order to achieve compliance).
Another significant element to include in your thesis statement is WHY the law is effective- does it limit discretion, prioritize rights, encourage retribution etc.
Topic sentences
The next three lines of your introduction should be topic sentences that outline the arguments for each of your body paragraphs. Your topic sentences should be concise, assertive and display your argument. A key mistake is that students try to ‘content dump’ what they know about the topic instead of previewing an argument.
A simple structure to use is
1. Name the specific topic – eg Laws relating to arrests, the Bail Act 2013 (NSW), The Children’s Court, the United Nations Security Council, the ACCC. Try to be specific about the topic- you can include the legislation if you wish.
2. Effectiveness- Is the law relating to this area of high, moderate, or limited effectiveness in upholding your theme and challenge.
3. Theme and Challenge- this should reflect the T&C from the question and your thesis, be be more specific. For Example: if the T&C is ‘moral and ethical standards’ you should specify the ‘moral and ethical standard of remedying the overrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in incarceration’
4. Reason why- This is often the most important part- why is the law effective (or ineffective).
Linking Sentence
The final sentence is your linking statement. It should restate your thesis, tie back to the question and reiterate the points from your paragraph.
Legal Studies is all about being clear and concise, so by following these simple tips, you should be able to write a strong introduction that will put you on the path to achieving a band 6.
If you’re looking for personalized guidance or extra support to achieve your academic goals, we’re here for you! At Pinnacle Learners, we offer tutoring and mentoring for Years 7–12 in Legal Studies and English, with private lessons available at our Rozelle center or online via Skype. Our dedicated tutors have helped students across the Inner West—Balmain, Birchgrove, Rozelle, Leichhardt, and beyond—boost their results by 20% or more.
Book in a free 10 minute consultation call to find out how we can help you succeed in your high school studies.
