CrimNet

18 March 2024

2024 Paul Bryne SC Memorial Lecture: The Rule of Law in Modern Australia

By Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, ACT 

On 28 February 2024, The Honourable Chief Justice Lucy McCallum delivered the Paul Byrne SC Memorial Lecture, addressing a full house in the Law Foyer at the University of Sydney Law School.

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum delivered a lecture on the topic, ‘The Rule of Law in Modern Australia’. After acknowledging Paul Byrne SC’s contributions to the criminal law and criminal justice system in Australia, and his reputation as an outstanding Criminal Barrister, Chief Justice McCallum addressed the issue of overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Australian prisons. During her address, her Honour also reflected on the role and responsibilities of judges in upholding the rule of law in modern Australia, focusing on the instinctive synthesis approach to sentencing, and the extent to which judges can achieve individualised justice for accused persons within the constraints of the law. Chief Justice McCallum’s lecture was very well-received, and her Honour generously participated in a Q & A session at the end of her address.

The Sydney Institute of Criminology is very grateful to The Honourable Chief Justice Lucy McCallum for an intellectually stimulating presentation. Her Honour’s lecture can be found here and we expect that it will be published in due course in Current Issues in Criminal Justice (as most of the previous Paul Byrne SC Memorial Lectures have been).

Dear Premier Minns,

Don't turn your back on Closing the Gap.

Throwing more children in jail will make crime worse in regional communities, not better.

Throwing more children in jail will lead to horrific outcomes for communities, families and those children, compounding abuse and trauma. 

Throwing more children in jail will cause unspeakable damage to Closing The Gap and efforts to create a better future for Aboriginal children in NSW.

Your new policy to increase youth incarceration: is a betrayal of your Closing the Gap commitments, ignores decades of evidence on how to reduce youth crime, prioritises punishment over investment in the proven prevention strategies that you promised to implement, will cause crime to get worse and will delay measures that could reduce crime. 

This is a devastating betrayal of Aboriginal children and other vulnerable groups across NSW. 

This is a devastating betrayal of regional communities who want prevention measures not stunts.

We the undersigned organisations ask you to urgently replace your punishment measures with prevention measures: 

1. Resources allocated for local communities to support after-school, evening and weekend activities that engage at-risk young people.

2. Intensive and targeted programs and responses for at-risk children with appropriate referral services.

3. Formal community partnerships between police and Aboriginal controlled services.

Sydney Institute of Criminology supports this campaign by Aboriginal Legal Service and has signed this open letter.

Dr Andrew Dyer is a Co-Director of Sydney Institute of Criminology. 

Andrew’s research concerns criminal law and human rights law, and the relationship between them. His doctoral research examined whether the presence of a human rights charter in a jurisdiction can improve protections for offenders against penal populism – and he has published widely about the constitutionality of punitive legislative schemes. Andrew is also interested in criminal law doctrine and theory, and in recent publications has written about topics such as sexual assault law reform, mens rea, the partial defence of provocation and the law of criminal complicity. 

He has also made many submissions to Australian Law Reform Commissions and other Inquiries, especially concerning sexual assault and rape law reform, but also, most recently, about the terrorist continuing detention scheme for which Division 105A of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) provides. 

Dr Andrew Dyer Gives Evidence before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security

On 14 March 2024, Sydney Institute of Criminology Co-Director, Dr Andrew Dyer, gave evidence to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security ('PJCIS') about the terrorist continuing detention order scheme for which Division 105A of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) ('the Criminal Code') provides. In his evidence, Dr Dyer maintained the position that he defended in this written submission to the Committee - namely, that the Commonwealth government ought to adopt many of the recommendations of the then Independent National Security Legislation Monitor ('INSLM'), Grant Donaldson SC, in a March 2023 Report about the operation of Division 105A and related provisions in the Criminal Code. Most particularly, Dr Dyer advocated the repeal of the continuing detention order scheme, which he argued is: (a) unnecessary, given the other extensive restrictions that can be placed on terrorist offenders who are thought to remain dangerous at the conclusion of their sentences; and (b) concerning, partly because of the absence of any reliable risk prediction tool regarding terrorist offending. In the alternative, Dr Dyer argued that those serving continuing detention orders should be placed in a less punitive environment than is  currently so. Dr Dyer also expressed concerns about the Department of Home Affairs' failure to supply to the defendant in particular detention order proceedings a Report authored by Dr Emily Corner and Dr Helen Taylor that cast doubt on the efficacy of the VERA-2R risk assessment tool for terrorist offending (upon which the State was relying in those proceedings). And he supported Mr Donaldson SC's recommendation that, in light of this 'shocking' (see [291] of the INSLM's Report) omission, the Commonwealth government ought to insert particular provisions into the Criminal Code to ensure as far as possible that there is no repetition of such an 'error' (see [41] of the Department of Home Affairs' submission to the PJCIS).

Dr Dyer said that, while arguments in favour of liberty and human rights have limited purchase at the moment (and not only in the counter-terrorist context), it nevertheless seems important to challenge laws that fail adequately to balance the protection of the community on one hand and the interests of the individual on the other. 

Read the written submission to the committee here.

Read the INSLM report here.

Parties' Liability at Common Law in Australia: How to Clean Up a Mess (2024) 47 Crim LJ 144

Dr Andrew Dyer

Abstract: In Mitchell v The King, the High Court of Australia ruled that the Crown may not combine the extended joint criminal enterprise doctrine with the constructive murder rule created by s 12A of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA). Their Honours’ reasoning on this point was dubious; indeed, this is the second time the Court has used questionable reasoning to avoid difficulties created by its criminal complicity jurisprudence. Such reasoning shows that the common law relating to parties’ liability is seriously flawed and that law reform is necessary. Australian Parliaments should place Jogee v The Queen on a statutory footing. And they should deal more thoroughly than any Australian Parliament yet has with a problem that has often arisen in the case law – the extent to which the liability of an assister, encourager or procurer hinges on the guilt of those whom she has assisted, encouraged or procured.

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: Professor Colin King, 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 

For more updates, follow CICJ on X here.

Conference: Applied Research in Crime and Justice; Griffith Criminology Institute 

Conference Date: 1-2 July 2024

Venue: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre

Griffith Criminology Institute, in partnership with the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), is pleased to invite you to the Applied Research in Crime and Justice Conference. The conference will be held on 1 – 2 July 2024 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The conference showcases practical, policy-relevant research with a direct bearing on effective criminal justice administration and crime prevention. The event serves as a platform for bringing together policymakers, academics and influential stakeholders from public, private, and university sectors.

For more information, see here. 

PhD candidate on procedural fairness in virtual criminal proceedings

Tilburg Law School

Applications close: 31 March 2024

Tilburg Law School is seeking an enthusiastic colleague for the position PhD candidate in the Department of Criminal Law.

Despite their foundations in written (procedure) law, criminal trials are living instruments and can take different shapes and forms over time. Since the COVID-19 pandemic the use of communication technology and digital means in criminal courtrooms has increased considerably. This development raises fundamental questions as to how technology impacts and changes traditional concepts of (fair) criminal procedure. As a PhD researcher you will carry out independent academic research in this fascinating and largely unexplored area of criminal procedure (law) and your primary responsibility will be to write a PhD thesis.

For more information, see here. 

The University of Sheffield is making a significant investment in Criminology by appointing up to two Chairs and one Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Law, following its strong performance in REF2021. 

Chairs

Application close: 09 April 2024

The Chair posts are open to applicants from all areas of criminology and/or criminal justice, with expertise in the international/global dimensions of the discipline. University of Sheffield are looking for scholars with potential to lead the CCR in the future, working with and involving colleagues in different disciplines from within and beyond the University. 

For more information, see here. 

Senior Lecturer

Application close: 09 April 2024

The Senior Lecturer post is also open to applicants from all areas of criminology and/or criminal justice, but University of Sheffield are especially keen to attract excellent applicants in the areas of Crime and Technology and/or Green Criminology. 

For more information, see here. 

HDR Scholarship - Network science and covert threats

Deakin University

Applications close: 5 pm, 30 April 2024 

Network science offers unique concepts, theories, and methods to analyse and understand relationships between a given set of social entitles (individuals, groups, etc.) in ways that directly inform the identification, anticipation, and disruption of covert threats. This project aims to leverage the untapped potential of network science for analysing and disrupting crime and security risks. 

Developing novel simulation methodologies to systematically analyse the characteristics of cybercrime, organised crime, and extremist networks, the project will use advances in analytics and machine learning to model and reveal effective intelligence targeting and disruption strategies. The project will therefore extend existing research on cover networks in significant ways.

For more information, see here. 

Nominations for the 2024 Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards (ACVPA)

Australian Institute of Criminology 

Applications deadline: 5 pm AEST, 19 April 2024

The annual Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards (ACVPA) recognise and reward programs that reduce crime and violence in Australia. The awards encourage public initiatives, and assist governments in identifying and developing practical projects which will reduce violence and other types of crime in the community.

Any government agency, not-for-profit organisation or individual person making a significant contribution to a project in Australia can be nominated for an award. Projects may address specific groups such as rural and remote communities, women, children, youth, family, migrant, ethnic or Indigenous communities, or specific problems such as alcohol-related violence.

For more information, see here. 

Justice Fellowships 

Law and Justice Foundation of NSW 

Application deadline: 10 am, 1 May 2024

The Law and Justice Foundation of NSW (‘the Foundation’) is launching the inaugural Justice Fellowships program, offering a platform for in-depth exploration of legal and access to justice issues. The program seeks to cultivate and share innovative ideas in support of promoting access to justice, with each awarded Justice Fellow pursuing their identified topic of interest.

Up to four Justice Fellowships will be awarded annually. Each Justice Fellow will receive $10,000 (pre-tax) to cover their expenses, as well as support and guidance from the Foundation in exploring their chosen topic. Justice Fellows will be invited to present their findings and ideas at a sector forum hosted by the Foundation.

For more information, see here. 

Call for creative content 

Feminist Legal Studies 

Feminist Legal Studies is seeking creative content for our Reflections section of the journal.

FLS is looking for:
• Writing that considers and contextualises law, policy, feminist theory, praxis or
feminist legal practice.
• Work that engages with recent events, historic developments, marks a significant
anniversary, for example of legislation or a landmark case, or an area of law where the
academic literature is scarce.
• Analytical and curated accounts of roundtables, conversations and interviews with
academics, lawyers and/or activists.
• Reflections that draw on personal engagement with feminist activism and events. These
are particularly welcome especially where they might not otherwise find an academic
audience.
• Material taking innovative and creative forms that challenge conventional styles of
academic writing. This may include poetry, art, photography and film and performing
arts reviews.

Word length: 2000 – 4000 words (or open to discussion if in another medium).

FLS is open to group-based submissions if you are interested in a ‘reflection series.’
Reflection Editors are keen to discuss ideas and welcome enquiries about the nature/form of proposals in advance of submission.

Contact the Reflections Editors with proposals/ideas: Loveday Hodson, Farnush Ghadery , and Senthorun Raj.

Submit to FLS here. 

Call for abstracts: Punishment in Global Peripheries 

University of Oxford, National University of Litoral 

Deadline: 01 April 2024 

In 2021, the first international conference ‘Punishment in Global Peripheries’ was held online in an attempt to challenge the Northern-centric approach that has dominated the literature on punishment and society.

The fourth International conference ‘Punishment in Global Peripheries’ will take place in Santa Fe (Argentina). Contribuitons on punishment in peripheral contexts and papers that particularly engage and explore with the following topics are welcomed: 

- Past and present effects of imperialism and colonialism in contemposry penality 

- Travels of penal policies and knowledge across core and peripheral contexts, and within peripheral contexts and regions 

- Complexities and peculiar features of penal trends, institutions and practices in peripheral settings

- Innovative methodological and theoretical perspectives to think of peripheral realisties and penalities 

Submission of Abstracts: 

Please send an abstract of up to 300 words by 01 April 2024 to delitoysociedad@unl.edu.ar  with your name, affiliation and email address. In the document, indicate whether you intend to participate in the conference in person or online. There is limited funding available for speakers' accommodation, so please indiciate whether you want to be considered for that. Proposals should be in a word format, and their title should be the author's surname. Decisions shall be communicated no later than 15 April 2024. Authors whose abstracts are accepted should sent their papers (6,000 - 8,000 words) by 10 July 2024. 

This event will be held in a hybrid format, physically taking place in the National University of Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina, but online participation will also be made possible. 

This conference is hosted by the Global Criminal Justice Hub of the Oxford Centre for Criminology (United Kingdom) and the Programme Crime & Society and the Master in Criminology, National University of Litoral (Argentina). 

Call for proposals on Queer Law

Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies

‘Queer’ and ‘law’ often come into conflict. Queer, as a dynamic theoretical position, 
produces frameworks to analyse, critique, represent, and politicise non-normativity, 
typically in relation to minoritised bodies, intimacies, genders, and sexualities. 

This series invites monographs, short Pivots (25-50k words), and edited collections which engage with these productive conflicts. 

This series particularly welcomes contributions from early career scholars researching topics relating to:
• Queer methods of litigation, advocacy, and adjudication.
• Legal and policy interventions aimed at queer lives, bodies, cultures, and communities. 
• The relationship between pursuits of queer activism, law reform, and policy change. 
• Queer articulations of legal rights, benefits, entitlements, responsibilities, and jurisdictions. 
• Queer engagements with legal research, scholarship, teaching, and writing. 

For more information or general queries, please contact: Editorial Board member: Senthorun Raj, Series Editor: Dave Cowan Or the Palgrave Editor Josie.

For more information, see here. 

Call for Abstracts: Strengthening Connections: The Power of Relationships and Strong Service Partnerships

16th April – 18th April 2024

In collaboration with the Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria, the Australasian Youth Justice Administrators (AYJA) are partnering with the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology to deliver the 5th Australasian Youth Justice Conference. 

The conference is a three-day event of presentations, keynote addresses, Q & A, and panel discussions. The overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and Māori young people will be a critical focus of the conference, and responsive and holistic approaches to address overrepresentation issues will be threaded throughout the conference program.

For more information, see here. 

Non-disclosure agreements are commonplace in sexual harassment cases, but they’re being misused to silence people

Regina Featherstone and Sharmilla Bargon, Social Justice Practitioners-in-Residence, University of Sydney 

Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) came into public consciousness during the #MeToo movement after multiple women spoke out with sexual harassment allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein.

Weinstein systematically used NDAs to silence victim-survivors. It’s a major reason it took years for his behaviour to be made public. Because of the secrecy involved, it’s also how he was able to continue perpetrating harm against so many women.

Read the article here. 

reThink Chatbot

Joel Scanlan, Jeremy Prichard, Lauren C. Hall from the University of Tasmania and Paul A. Watters from Macquarie University and Richard Wortley from University College London 

The Internet Watch Foundation has released the findings of an evaluation of a strategy to prevent the use of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The evaluation was completed in collaboration with Pornhub (UK), and was led by Dr Joel Scanlan at the University of Tasmania. Pornhub users who sought CSAM were directed by a chatbot to anonymous counselling and support services. Across the length of the intervention there was a significant decrease in the number of CSAM searches on Pornhub (UK).

Read the full report here.

Comparing Affirmative Consent Models: Confusion, Substance and Symbolism

Anna High, University of Otago 

Abstract: Sexual assault law reform commonly involves legislating a statement of appropriate standards of sexual interaction in the form of a positive definition of consent. In jurisdictions contemplating a legislated definition, the question of whether to adopt an orthodox attitudinal or unorthodox expressive definition must be confronted. Discussion around the adoption of an unorthodox consent model, commonly known as ‘affirmative consent’, has been beset by confusion, caused in part by the diversity of legal models to which this label has been applied. This article sets out a detailed comparison of the doctrinal mechanisms in jurisdictions commonly identified as having adopted some version of affirmative consent. The analysis sheds light on the variety of ways rape law can be reconstructed to reflect the aspiration of communicative sexuality, while also highlighting the core unifying objective of transforming the legal meaning of passivity. From the comparative analysis, four key points of divergence are highlighted, alongside the implications of those points of divergence for jurisdictions contemplating affirmative consent reform. Finally, the article notes the paucity of evidence on the substantive impacts of affirmative consent, and discusses the potential educative and symbolic functions of embracing such a model, despite ongoing uncertainty as to its practical effects.

Read the article here.

Research Publication, Australian Institute of Criminology

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released new research examining the use of video visitation in Australian prisons and its impact on father–child relationships. The study, by researchers from Sydney University, University of Wollongong and Western Sydney University, shows:

1. There is significant support for the use of video visits, especially when used to complement in-person visits.

2. Video visits improved the quality of father–child relationships, particularly by giving fathers access to the social world of the child via audiovisual connections.

3. Benefits of the technology included reduced travel time and costs associated with in-person visits, the fact that children did not need to visit correctional environments with the consequent harms associated with screening and security, and the reduction in contraband associated with in-person visits. Barriers included the lack of physical/non-verbal communication with children, and the varied technical issues that affected the operation of the equipment.

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