CrimNet

13 October 2023

SAVE THE DATE!

2023 Paul Byrne SC Memorial Lecture - ‘The Rule of Law in Modern Australia’

Presenter: Chief Justice Lucy McCallum

Date: 15 November 2023 

Venue: Law Foyer, Level 2, F10 New Law Building 

The 2023 Paul Byrne SC Memorial Lecture, hosted by the Sydney Institute of Criminology, will be presented by Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, on the topic ‘The Rule of Law in Modern Australia’.

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum graduated with a BA/LLB from the University of New South Wales in 1986, majoring in philosophy. She commenced her legal career as a commercial litigation solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jaques in Sydney before moving to Canberra to take up a position as a prosecutor in 1988. In 1990, her Honour joined the Queensland DPP as a trial advocate. She returned to Sydney in 1991 to become a barrister, taking silk in 2005. In 2008, her Honour was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in the Common Law Division. In 2016, Chief Justice McCallum was appointed Chair of the NSW Judicial Commission Ngara Yura Committee, which works to educate judicial officers on matters relating to contemporary socio-cultural issues that have an impact on Aboriginal people in the justice system. In February 2019, she was elevated to the New South Wales Court of Appeal. Her Honour was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Australian Capital Territory on 8 March 2022. Her personal interests include a range of outdoor adventure sports as well as cooking, music and reading.

Domestic and Family Violence Conference

Conference registration closes: 20 October 2023

Conference: 9 November 2023

Domestic and family violence is rife in Australia. Concerningly, 1 in 6 women have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner, and one woman a week is killed (AIHW, 2018).

To address this complex issue, the Sydney Institute of Criminology is organising a one-day conference on domestic and family violence. This event will take place in person on Gadigal Land at The University of Sydney Camperdown Campus on Thursday, 9 November 2023.

The conference will bring together a diverse group of people, including academics, professionals working in community organisations, and those with lived experience. It is hoped that we will be able to learn from one another’s knowledge and experiences to enhance our understanding of and responses to this urgent national issue. Our aim is to start a dialogue between community organisations and researchers that may lead to mutually beneficial research collaborations.

Symposium: The Folbigg Case (So Far): Issues and Implications

Sydney Institute of Criminology and UNSW Centre for Criminology, Law & Justice

5 October 2023

On 5 October 2023, at UNSW's CBD campus, the Sydney Institute of Criminology and the UNSW Centre for Criminology, Law & Justice co-hosted a Symposium entitled The Folbigg Case (So Far): Issues and Implications. The Symposium was chaired by Associate Professor Mehera San Roque from the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW and it focussed on Ms Folbigg's wrongful convictions and their socio-legal implications. The event  was extremely well-attended and featured presentations from  key participants in the Folbigg proceedings - including Ms Folbigg's friend and champion, Tracy Chapman - as well as academic experts, who spoke about topics such as: the use of tendency and coincidence reasoning in the Folbigg case; the reliance by the Crown on certain diary entries by Ms Folbigg as admissions of guilt; media representations of Ms Folbigg; law and gender; the criminal appeal rights of convicted persons in NSW and other Australian jurisdictions; the politicised process of additional appeals and public inquiries; and the prospect of the creation of Criminal Case Review Commission(s) (CCRCs) in Australia. Sydney Institute of Criminology Co-Director Andrew Dyer welcomed participants to the event and reiterated the Institute's support for Australian CCRCs. Institute member, Professor David Hamer, who has been the driving force behind the Institute's recent advocacy about CCRCs, then spoke on a panel that considered the implications of the Folbigg case for wrongful convictions and legal reform. The keynote speech was given by Professor Emma Cunliffe of the University of British Columbia, who spoke interestingly and well about the Folbigg case. Emma Cunliffe was one of the first academics to raise serious questions about the Folbigg convictions in her 2011 book Murder, Medicine and Motherhood.

The Sydney Institute of Criminology is very grateful to the UNSW Centre for Criminology, Law and Justice, and in particular to Associate Professor San Roque and Professor Gary Edmond, for inviting us to participate with it in this important event. We were delighted to collaborate with the UNSW Centre in this way and we hope that there will be many further such collaborations in the future.

CPD: Gratuitous concurrence and the role of the prosecutor: Presenting a fair and firm Crown case in the face of sociolinguistic challenges

Presenter: Shannon Matchett

A unique challenge faced in the adversarial system is that the prosecution only ‘wins’ when justice is done. An agreeable witness may seem a blessing to those bringing the prosecution case. However, the presentation of a fair and firm criminal prosecution must be reconciled with three considerations: (1) the over-representation of Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice system; (2) the phenomenon of ‘gratuitous concurrence’ – the Indigenous Australian cultural practice of agreeing with direct questions to placate or appease the questioner; and (3) a prosecutor’s obligations to act fairly to the accused, act with integrity and be mindful of cultural sensitivities.

How are a prosecutor’s obligations discharged in the face of gratuitous concurrence? This presentation will give an overview of the prosecutor’s role as a minister of justice, and the ethical framework in which the Crown operates. It will discuss judicial authorities that have developed and considered the phenomenon of gratuitous concurrence. These decisions and their application will be contrasted with research and academic analyses. The synthesis of academia and common law will be considered in the work of justice stakeholder and law reform bodies, and what recommendations have been made, and are on foot. 

This CPD session was recorded on 10th October 2023 and the recording will be released on 26th October 2023.  

Professor Thalia Anthony is a professor of Law at University of Technology Sydney. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of Sydney Institute of Criminology. 

Her research examines the role of criminal laws and procedures in reproducing social relations and enforcing dispossession. She also has expertise in relation to First Nations Stolen Wages claims, legal redress for the Stolen Generations, the harms of carceral systems, and coercive controls of First Nations homelands, housing and mobility. 

 Her research impacts public debates and class actions in relation to carceral harms, prison abolition and legal and policy remedies for state and corporate wrongs inflicted on First Nations peoples. 

Professor Thalia Anthony co-authored a book titled, 'Unsettling Colonial Automobilities: Criminalisation and Contested Sovereignties', which was published recently. 

Unsettling Colonial Automobilities explores the vehicle's role in imposing colonialism on Indigenous people and proposes an Indigenous automobility that reclaims sovereignty over place and centricity.

Based on extensive fieldwork within First Nations communities, accounts from Indigenous scholars and activists, and cinematic/literary representations, this contribution challenges unrestricted mobility in modernity and highlights the vehicle's impact on Indigenous communities.

To know more, see here. 

Professor Thalia Anthony, co-authored an article titled, 'Indigenous Experience Reports: Addressing Silence and Deficit Discourse in Sentencing', which examines all 149 sentences delivered in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory between 2009 and 2019, in which the defendant’s Indigenous status was identifiable. 

Read here. 

Modern Criminal Law Review

The online open access Modern Criminal Law Review is a collaborative project designed to facilitate multilateral discourse about criminal law across countries, systems, and disciplines: a global platform for a global subject. MCLR+ is international, interdisciplinary, and multimedia: it features contributions from any disciplinary, doctrinal, or domestic perspective and in any format or medium that may shed light on one of the most vexing, and urgent, topics in law and governance, including interventions, articles, videos, audios (podcasts), features, and events.

Institute member, Professor Arlie Loughnan has been appointed as a member of the Editorial Board of MCLR+.

See here. 

The importance of the national COVID-19 inquiry announced last week has been underscored by Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing that COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in 2022. 

Institute member, Dr Christopher Rudge, was quoted in an article titled  'The COVID inquiry – overdue, important, critiqued and facing a big task ahead'. Read here. 

SEI employment pathways workshop: pathway to academia

Institute member, Dr. Rachel Killean will join a panel of Academics and discuss how they got started in academia, progressed in their careers, and some tips they have for those wanting to make a difference in the realm of research.

Register here.  

The 2023/24 Criminal Law CPD Series, presented by the Sydney Institute of Criminology, is an innovative educational program made up of 8 recorded webinars.

Our series covers a wide range of criminal law topics, including criminal procedure, evidence law, and criminal advocacy. Led by experienced legal professionals, our webinars are designed to help you stay up to date with the latest developments in criminal law and earn your mandatory CPD points.

A new webinar will be released each month from April to November and will include a quiz to test your comprehension of the material being discussed.  

Register now for the full series or individual webinars and enjoy the flexibility of watching at your own pace from any location at any time.  

Information for lawyers and barristers
If this educational activity is relevant to your professional development and practice of the law, then you should claim 1.5 MCLE/CPD points per seminar attended.

Practitioners are advised to check with the CPD governing body in their jurisdiction for the most accurate and up-to-date information. Find out about interstate accreditation.

Cost: Full series (8 x webinars) = $300 
Individual webinar(s) = $50

Non-consensual sexual offence law reform in Western Australia

Substantive Law 

Dr Andrew Dyer -  Available now

The Attorney-General of Western Australia has asked that State’s Law Reform Commission to review Western Australia’s sexual offence laws. In December 2022, the Commission published a Discussion Paper that deals with the law relating to sexual consent and the operation of honest and reasonable mistake of fact in non-consensual sexual offence proceedings. This seminar will consider the various reform options. 

Vulnerable witness advocacy

Practice Management and Business Skills, Ethics and professional responsibility

Philip Hogan -  Available now

This seminar will discuss the definition of a vulnerable witness in the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) and the provisions in the Act that allow for the use of pre-recorded evidence and provide for other alternative means of giving evidence. The seminar will particularly consider the way a complainant’s evidence is adduced in the Child Sexual Assault Program operating in some NSW courts. There will also be some discussion of Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) provisions that may be relevant to the evidence of a vulnerable witness. Finally, the seminar will cover relevant provisions of the Equality before the Law Bench Book and some findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. 

Digital vulnerability: Vulnerable individuals and remote access technologies in justice

Ethics and professional responsibility. Professional skills. Practice Management. 

Dr Carolyn McKay - Available now

This seminar will focus on the use of remote access technologies, such as audiovisual links, when working with vulnerable individuals in the justice system, and the developing concept of ‘digital vulnerability’. The seminar will draw on Dr McKay’s current Australian Research Council (‘ARC’) funded research and examine the multiple layers of vulnerability that individuals may experience while involved in legal matters. It will present preliminary findings from initial fieldwork interviews with lawyers and judicial officers that reveal critical perspectives on the impacts of digitalisation on vulnerable people in the justice system. While the research project and findings centre on the criminal justice system, many of the issues are equally relevant to legal practitioners working with vulnerable people in civil matters. 

Assessing witness credibility: Is it possible to tell whether someone is lying or telling the truth?

Substantive law. Professional skills.

Associate Professor Helen Paterson - Available now

Witness testimony can be extremely influential in legal investigations and trials; however, sometimes witnesses lie. Such deception can be detrimental to due process, and can result in miscarriages of justice. Thus, it is important for legal personnel and factfinders to be able to determine whether someone is lying or telling the truth. This interactive seminar will discuss research investigating behavioural and content indicators of deception. It will help legal practitioners understand the difficulties in discriminating liars from truth-tellers as well as the evidence base for various lie detection techniques. 

Advocacy in the Children's Court: Considerations for criminal matters involving children and young persons

Ethics and professional responsibility. Professional skills.

Judge Ellen Skinner, Shannon Richards and James Clifford - Available now 

The Children’s Court deals with a wide range of cases across New South Wales involving children and young people. In its criminal jurisdiction, matters involve defendants under the age of 18. There are complexities in the legislation as to how certain charges involving children and young persons proceed, including considerations of doli incapax and whether the charges can remain at the summary level or should be dealt with ‘at law’ in a higher court. This presentation will discuss issues around the age of criminal responsibility and the committal process in the Children’s Court. It will help lawyers practising criminal law who appear in the Children’s Court, and provide perspectives from the Bench, prosecution and defence. 

Probative value and admissibility in the criminal trial: Focus and holism

Substantive law

Professor David Hamer - 
Available now 

In determining whether challenged evidence is admissible, the trial judge is often required to assess its probative value. The orthodox view is that this assessment focuses on the strength of connection between the challenged evidence and the fact in issue. However, a distinct strand of High Court jurisprudence, running through the common law and the uniform evidence legislation requires a holistic approach to probative value.

Gratuitous concurrence and the role of the prosecutor: Presenting a fair and firm Crown case in the face of sociolinguistic challenges

Professional skills. Ethics & professional responsibility.

Presenter: Shannon Matchett
Release date: 26 October

This presentation will give an overview of the prosecutor’s role as a minister of justice, and the ethical framework in which the Crown operates. It will discuss judicial authorities that have developed and considered the phenomenon of gratuitous concurrence.

Should Deceptive Sex Always Be Rape? Dr Andrew Dyer - Substantive Law

The Role of the Crown Prosecutor in NSW Mr Brett Hatfield Practice - Management and Business Skills, Ethics and professional responsibility

The Reliability and Credibility of Eyewitnesses Associate Professor Helen Paterson - Substantive Law

Ethical Practice for Junior Criminal Law Barristers Ms Talitha Hennessy - Ethics and professional responsibility

Myths, Misconceptions and Mixed Messages: An Early Look at the New Tendency and Coincidence Evidence Provisions Professor David Hamer - Substantive Law

Advocacy in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal Mr John Stratton SC - Professional Skills

The Work of the Mental Health Review Tribunal Judge Paul Lakatos SC - Professional Skills

Current Issues in Criminal Justice (CICJ) provides detailed analysis of national and international issues by a range of outstanding contributors. It includes contemporary comments, with discussion at the cutting edge of the crime and justice debate, as well as reviews of recently released books.

CICJ accepts submissions on a rolling basis.

Editor: Dr Justin Ellis, member of the Sydney Institute of Criminology

You can access current and previous issues of Current Issues in Criminal Justice here.

If you have a book suitable for review by CICJ, please email the books editor, Celine Van Golde at celine.vangolde@sydney.edu.au

Australian Institute of Criminology Conference 2023

16 October 2023

The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) is hosting the AIC 2023 conference on Monday 16 October 2023, commemorating 50 years since the establishment of the AIC.

A limited number of conference tickets are available to purchase from Eventbrite.

For more information, see here. 

Legal Education Research Conference 2023; UNSW Law & Justice 

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 9:30 AM - Tue, 21 Nov 2023 5:00 PM

The field of legal education is evolving, and a significant shift has taken place towards more experiential and practical learning approaches. The theme for this year is 'Situated Learning: Climate Change, First Nations Recognition, Generative AI'. Register here. 

Public Lecture: 2023 John Barry Memorial Lecture in Criminology

18 October 2023; 06:30 PM - 7:45 PM 

The 2023 John Barry Memorial Lecture in Criminology - hosted by the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne - will be presented by Associate Professor Maria Giannacopoulos (UNSW), on the topic ‘We’re doing everything but treaty: law reform and sovereign refusal in the colonial debtscape’.

When land, subterranean earth and water are rendered freely available for use without payment, compensation or accountability to Aboriginal peoples, then this limitless accumulation of debt makes possible the very existence and economic standing of contemporary Australia.

In 2023, as Australia pushes urgent calls for treaty aside and moves rapidly towards a referendum to alter but ultimately reaffirm a colonial legal system, the conversation on the role of colonial debt, its continual and ongoing accrual and the brutality of ongoing austerity in the settler colony is yet to take place. Dr Maria Giannacopoulos examines the role of colonial law in seeking to displace treaty through reform. 

The lecture will be held at the University of Melbourne Parkville campus, followed by a reception with drinks and canapes. There is also a Zoom attendance option.

Register here. 

Safe Spaces: Understanding and enhancing safety and inclusion for diverse women

25 October 2023; 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM 

Griffith Criminology Institute, Monash University XYX Lab and The University of Sydney Law School invite you to the official launch of the Safe Spaces: Understanding and enhancing safety and inclusion for diverse women report and engagement blueprint and toolkits.  Working in partnership with women, local councils and Welcoming Cities, the Safe Spaces team engaged over 200 women from diverse backgrounds to identify the physical and the social elements of public places that lead to feelings of worry and exclusion and co-create novel strategies to improve safety and inclusion for all women.

Register here. 

Children’s Rights and Participation in Youth Justice Systems: An International Perspective

25 October 2023; 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM 

Join the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Youth Justice Research Collaboration at the University of Sydney at this free webinar. It will provide an opportunity for academics and professionals to detail and discuss the upholding of children’s rights and participation in the English and Australian Youth Justice Systems. There will be plenty of opportunities for interactive discussions about the enablers and barriers to meaningful participation in youth justice systems.

For more information, see here. 

Symposium: Rural Crime, Justice & Disaster: Impacts, Response and Recovery; University of New England, Centre for Rural Criminology & the ISSRC

29 November 2023

This symposium explores the various types of disasters and how they impact rural areas, including pandemics, natural disasters, biosecurity, economic crises, and political turmoil. These events have significant effects on the social, environmental, and economic aspects of rural communities.

The symposium's focus is on the connection between these disasters and crime, with an emphasis on preventing, responding to, and recovering from them.

For more information, see here.  

KWOOP 2023 Parliamentary Breakfast

21 November 2023; 7:15 AM - 9:00 AM

The 8th Annual Keeping Women Out of Prison Parliament House Breakfast will be hosted by The Hon. Kate Rebecca Washington, MP.

The panel of speakers and MC will be announced shortly. 

For more information, see here. 

Legal Words for Interpreters and Bilingual Workers - Criminal Law Words; Legal Aid NSW

20 November 2023; 12:30 PM - 4:00 PM

In this face to face event, an experienced Legal Aid NSW criminal lawyer will explain some common and complex legal terminology in the area of criminal law.

For more information, see here. 

Child Sexual Abuse Reduction Research Network; Australian Institute of Criminology 

Monday 4 - Tuesday 5 December 2023

Child sexual abuse is a complex and harmful crime type that requires multi-sector collaboration to address. This workshop will bring together leading researchers and practitioners from around the world to share their research on combatting child sexual abuse, and foster new connections. The workshop will cover a wide range of relevant topics, including understanding offender behaviour patterns and pathways, new investigatory methods and approaches, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the use of offender-based interventions and prevention initiatives, as well as the provision of support to victim-survivors. Register here. 

Grant Opportunities: Australian Government Community Grants hub

Applications close: 9:00 pm, 07 December 2023.

The Attorney-General’s Department is offering 2 new open non-competitive funding opportunities:

National Justice Reinvestment Program – Round 1

The National Justice Reinvestment Program aims to reduce contact with the criminal justice system and incarceration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults and young people through support for place-based and community-led justice reinvestment initiatives across Australia. Find more information here. 

Justice Reinvestment in Central Australia Program – Round 1

This opportunity aims to prevent and reduce contact with the justice system for First Nations adults and young people through place-based, community-led crime prevention initiatives, measures relating to treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, or diversionary measures relating to illegal drug use. Find more information here. 

Call for submissions: Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize , The University of Sydney Law School 

Deadline for Submissions: 6 November, 2023

Sydney Law School is pleased to announce the second annual Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize.

The Essay Prize is open to students enrolled in an LLB or JD program at an Australian University.  In 2023, essays must be submitted by 6 November 2023, responding this proposition:

What policy initiative/s would best enable you to pursue a career in social justice?

For more information, see here.

Call for Submissions: UNSW Law Journal 

Deadline for Submissions: 17 November 2023 

The UNSW Law Journal is currently welcoming submissions for the thematic component of Issue 47(2). The topic for this thematic is ‘Developments in Rights, Freedoms and Accountability’. For more information, see here. 

Call for Submissions: 2024 Trauma Informed Policing and Law Enforcement Conference

Deadline for Submissions: 20 November 2023 

Police and associated justice organisations are increasingly looking at becoming trauma-informed. Some jurisdictions globally have also included trauma-informed practice in their operating protocols and a growing body of experience and evidence is being accumulated world-wide, with lessons progressively learned to guide progress in instituting and operationalising trauma-informed and shame-competent practice.

Trauma-informed practice is of significant relevance to police. Trauma and shame have a range of neurological, physiological and behaviour impacts of varying degrees of severity at different life-stages. These often result in trauma-induced states which in turn impact the person's interactions with police (and many others), either as victims, suspects or offenders.   

The conference is being hosted by the centre Deakin University Centre for Drug use, Addictive and Anti-social behaviour Research (CEDAAR) from Deakin University alongside partners Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association Inc (GLEPHA), and University of Tasmania Trauma Informed Policing. 

For more information, see here. 

The Bugmy Bar Book 

On 13 September 2023, the Bugmy Bar Book Project and the NSW Bar Association’s First Nations Committee co-presented a widely anticipated panel discussion about ‘Recognising and Presenting Evidence of Strengths in Legal Proceedings’.
 
The event, which centred on the 2021 report, Significance of Culture to Wellbeing, Healing and Rehabilitation by Vanessa Edwige and Dr Paul Gray, addressed the importance of presenting a ‘strengths’ case for clients, reflecting on the insights from the Bar and Bench.
 
The panel discussion was opened by Andrew Smith, Barrister, Fourth Floor Selborne Chambers, and facilitated by Rebecca McMahon, Barrister, Forbes Chambers.

Click here to see the video recording of the event.

Would you like to contribute to CrimNet?

Contact us to share your criminal justice events or job opportunities. There is no cost involved. Simply email us with your information.

Copyright © 2022 The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
Phone +61 2 9351 2222 ABN 15 211 513 464 CRICOS Number: 00026A

Please add law.criminology@sydney.edu.au to your address book or senders safe list to make sure you continue to see our emails in the future.