Evaluation of the courts’ ability to make law: the requirement for standing
1. There are a number of ways in which the requirement for standing affects the ability of parliament to make law including:
- therequirement that parties have a direct, personal interest that has been affected – for example, law will only be made or clarified in relation tomatters that are important in society. This helpsthe courts prioritise their time and deal only withthe most relevant concerns.
- theuse of amicus curiae and third-party interveners– for example,the courts in Australia tend to be unwilling to add amici and interveners.
2. The task word ‘discuss’ require students to consider both sides of something. The ‘discussion’ of the impact of the requirement for standing on the ability of courtsto make law requires students to write about relevant factors enabling courts and relevant factors limiting courts.
3. The task word ‘analyse’ requires features or concepts to be broken down and shown how they relate to each other. It may require both sides of the question to be addressed to some extent, and a clear opinion to be provided. In this case, a clear opinion on one way in which the requirement for standingaffects the ability of courts to make law should be given.
For example, in relation to the requirement that parties have a direct, personal interest that has been affected, law will only be made or clarified in relation tomatters that are important in society. This helpsthe courts prioritise their time and deal only withthe most relevant concerns. However,courts are unable to clarify or develop the law in areas where there is no-one withenough knowledge, time, experience and money to bring the case in their own name. Even if an involved party has legal and financial support, it is still extremely stressful and time-consuming to be the named plaintiff in a test case or class action – not everyone will be willing to put her or his life on hold to do this.
4. The task word ‘evaluate’ require students to consider both sides of something, as well as express an opinion judging the relative strengths of the arguments. For example, a student might argue, based on evidence, that while there are some limiting factors, the requirement for standing does enable courts to make law. In this case, ‘evaluating’ the ability of courts to make law in relation to the requirement for standing requires students to write about relevant factors enabling courts and relevant factors limiting
For example, in relation to the requirement that parties have a direct, personal interest that has been affected, law will only be made or clarified in relation to matters that are important in society. This helps the courts prioritise their time, and deal only with the most relevant concerns. However, courts are unable to clarify or develop the law in areas where there is someone with enough knowledge, time, experience and money to bring the case in their own name. Even if an involved party has legal and financial support, it is still extremely stressful and time-consuming to be the named plaintiff in a test case or class action – not everyone will be willing to put her or his life on hold to do this.