CrimNet

28 September 2023

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

Date & Time: Thursday 5 October, 9:30am - 6:30pm AEDT

Venue: UNSW CBD Campus (Level 6/1 O'Connell Street, Sydney, NSW)

Following the recent release and pardon of Kathleen Folbigg, the UNSW Faculty of Law and Justice and the University of Sydney Law School are jointly hosting a day-long symposium focused on Ms Folbigg’s wrongful conviction and its socio-legal implications.

Join us for a series of critical presentations and discussions on the case and its wider implications, including hearing from key participants and representatives of Ms Folbigg. Discussions will range across the role and responsibility of the legal profession, law and gender, the use of probabilistic (i.e. tendency and coincidence) reasoning, reliance on diaries as admissions, our system of criminal appeals, the politicised process of additional appeals and public inquiries, media representations, relations between law, science and medicine, and the prospect of a criminal cases commission.

Attendees can register for the full program or just for the final panel session, held from 5:15-6:30pm: The Folbigg Case: Implications for Wrongful Convictions and Legal Reform. Please note: If you register for the full program, you do not need to register separately for this session.

Speakers include:

Professor Emma Cunliffe (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)

Tracy Chapman, Criminal Justice Advocate (Justice for Kathleen Folbigg)

Professor John Anderson (University of Newcastle)

Professor Stephen Cordner (Monash University and the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine)

Professor Gary Edmond (UNSW)

Professor David Hamer (University of Sydney)

Rhanee Rego (University of Newcastle)

Associate Professor Mehera San Roque (UNSW) 

This event is co-organised by the Centre for Criminology, Law and Justice, UNSW and Institute of Criminology, University of Sydney Law School.

Call for Abstracts: Domestic and Family Violence Conference

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.

Call for abstracts

We encourage engaged researchers and those with community experience to submit abstracts. Speakers may present on a variety of topics including (but not limited to): challenges faced by domestic and family violence organisations/survivors, intersectional lived experience, evidence-based prevention and response; best-practice interviewing techniques, psychological treatment of victims and offenders, and legal and policy implications.

Call for abstracts: 1 September 2023

Deadline for abstract submissions: 29 September 2023

Conference registration closes: 20 October 2023

Conference: 9 November 2023

Submit abstract here.

The deadline for submissions is 29 September, 2023.

Registration will open in October. 

Criminalising Children: Should we raise the age of criminal responsibility?

Recently, the Northern Territory became the first Australian jurisdiction to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 years. In New South Wales, and other Australian jurisdictions, the minimum age remains 10, which is one of the lowest minimum ages of criminal responsibility in the world. That is, while a child under the age of 10 cannot be convicted of a criminal offence, and while a child aged between 10 and 14 is likewise presumed to be doli incapax, this presumption can be rebutted by the prosecution on the evidence.

But is the age of 10 too young to criminalise any child? What harms accrue to incarcerated children?

Given the significant momentum for raising the age of criminal responsibility following the Northern Territory’s decision, Professor Thomas Crofts, Dr Krystal Lockwood, Professor Megan Williams and Mr Robert Hoyles examined whether other Australian jurisdictions should do the same ­– or raise the age even higher. 

Watch the panel discussion here. 

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

Presenter: Professor David Hamer

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 – from Pfennig v The Queen (1995) 182 CLR 461 through Phillips v The Queen (2006) 225 CLR 303 to TL v The King (2022) 96 ALJR 1072 – requires a holistic approach to probative value. That is, the trial judge should assess the contribution of the challenged evidence together with other evidence. The High Court’s occasional holism introduces incoherence and uncertainty into the law. The interventionism of this approach may be prompted by concern over the prejudicial risks of propensity evidence; however, holism does not necessarily provide added protection. The High Court’s holism appears to be more the product of fallacious reasoning and inattention to the logic of proof. And it carries the risk that the trial judge, at the admissibility stage, will trespass on the jury’s fact-finding province. 

This CPD session was recorded on 20th September 2023 and the recording will be released on 28th September 2023.  

Professor Colin King is a Professor at Sydney Law School. Originally from Limerick, Ireland, he completed his LLB and PhD in Ireland before moving to the UK. He was a Professor at Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London before arriving in Sydney in 2023. His research focuses on financial crime, particularly money laundering; proceeds of crime; and deferred prosecution agreements.

His publications include: Negotiated Justice: The Legitimacy of Civil Recovery and Deferred Prosecution Agreements (King & Lord, Palgrave 2018); and The Handbook of Criminal and Terrorism Financing Law (King, Walker & Gurulé eds, Palgrave, 2018).

Professor Colin King co-authored a book titled, 'Civil Recovery of Criminal Property', which was published recently. 

Civil Recovery of Criminal Property is an in-depth analysis of the confiscation of the proceeds of crime in the absence of criminal conviction in Ireland and England & Wales, more than two decades since the introduction of this civil/criminal hybrid procedure. This book considers the development of civil recovery in both jurisdictions, providing a comprehensive comparative account and critical examination of its legislative context and framework, judicial reception, and case law development. 

To know more, see here. 

Institute Deputy Director, Dr Allan McCay, published an article titled 'Neurotechnology and human rights in Chile: the Australian implications'.

Read here. 

‘Bullet to the heart’: Grieving parents call for mental health role in police response

In the years, since Courtney Topic was shot by police, her family has despaired at each death involving a person in mental health crisis. Despite feeling the “bullet in the heart again and again”, the family is struggling to gain the ear of politicians.

Institute member, Mr. Josh Pallas has been quoted in this article. As the president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, he supports an “urgent inquiry” so that “the setting can be recalibrated to avoid further lethal police interactions.

A letter was signed by Institute members, Professor Arlie Loughnan, Dr Louise Boon-Kuo, Dr Rachel Killean and Mr Ben Mostyn, supporting the call for mental health professionals to be first responders. 

Read the article 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 28 September 2023 

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 28 September 2023 

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.

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

Conference: Accountability in crisis: the rise of impunity as a challenge to human rights

11 October 2023 - 12 October 2023

This conference will bring together academics, journalists, politicians, activists, and business leaders to explore how rising authoritarianism, prolonged global conflict, climate change, economic instability and the proliferation of digital media have triggered an erosion of the human rights principles and practice and declining trust in democratic institutions. The conference will consider how government, business, media and civil society operate to both undermine and bolster accountability. For more information, see here. 

Domestic and family violence risk assessment; Australian Institute of Criminology 

10 October 2023 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Offender-focused risk assessment tools and frameworks play an important role in how Australia’s criminal justice systems respond to domestic and family violence (DFV). 

This webinar will discuss some of the latest research exploring the efficacy and usefulness of DFV risk assessment tools in Australia and New Zealand, with a focus on sharing lessons learned and identifying opportunities for improving DFV risk assessment tools. 

For more information, see here. 

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. 

32nd Annual Lionel Murphy Memorial Lecture; ANU College of Law 

03 October 2023; 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM

Australians will vote on 14 October 2023 in the first referendum held in the 21st Century. They will be asked to say Yes or No to whether the First Peoples of Australia should be recognised in the Constitution through the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

As Australians prepare to go to the polls, one of the leaders of this historic reform process, Professor Megan Davis, will deliver the 2023 Lionel Murphy Lecture. 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. 

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. 

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. 

Research Analyst; Corrections Research, Evaluation & Statistics

Deadline for Submission: 29 September 2023 

The Corrections Research, Evaluation & Statistics division is looking for an experienced Research Analyst to conduct research and evaluation projects in line with key CSNSW operational objectives.  With the support of Senior Corrections Research, Evaluation and Statistics staff, you will have a central role in generating and communicating advanced data insights and statistical findings to diverse audiences.

For more information, see here. 

NSW Sentencing Council - Board Member

Applications close : 01 October 2023

The NSW Attorney General is calling for applications to be considered for appointment to the NSW Sentencing Council. There are two vacancies:

~ a member representing the general community, and

~ a member with expertise or experience in Aboriginal justice matters.

For more information, see 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. 

Call for Submissions: Australian Institute of Family Studies

Deadline for Submissions: 13 October 2023.

The AIFS Conference 2024 invites experts in education, health, social sciences, gambling, family law, child protection and community services to submit an abstract for one (or more) conference subthemes.

The AIFS Conference is an opportunity for experts to share research and spark bold conversations on the trends, promising evidence, big challenges and emerging issues for families. 

Find out more here. 

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research 

The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has released a new research report Text mining police narratives of domestic violence events to identify coercive control behaviours.  

The study applied a text mining method to identify coercive control behaviours in the recorded free-text description of police narratives of 526,787 domestic violence-related criminal events occurring between 1 January 2009 and 21 March 2020.

The study found that 57% of domestic violence events included reference to at least one coercive control behaviour. 

The most common coercive control behaviours referenced in the police narrative were property damage and theft (26%), intimidation and threats (24%) and verbal abuse (23%).

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