Core Concepts in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice


Book Description

A comparative and collaborative study of the foundational principles and concepts that underpin different domestic systems of criminal law.




Sexual Violence in Australia, 1970s–1980s


Book Description

This book explores sexual violence and crime in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s, a period of intense social and legal change. Driven by the sexual revolutions, second wave feminism, and ideas of the rights of the child, there was a new public interest in the sexual assault of women and children. Sexual abuse was studied, surveyed and discussed more than ever before in Australian society. Yet, despite this, there remained substantial inaction, by government, from community and on the part of individuals. This book examines several difficult questions of our recent history: why did Australia not act more firmly to eradicate rape and child sexual abuse? What prevented our culture from looking seriously at trauma? How did we fail to protect victim-survivors? Rich in social and legal history, this study takes readers into the world of victims of sexual crime, and into the wider community that had to deal with sexual violence. At the core of this book is the question that resonates deeply right now: why does sexual violence appear seemingly insurmountable, despite significant change?




The Integrity of Criminal Process


Book Description

Criminal proceedings, it is often now said, ought to be conducted with integrity. But what, exactly, does it mean for criminal process to have, or to lack, 'integrity'? Is integrity in this sense merely an aspirational normative ideal, with possibly diffuse influence on conceptions of professional responsibility? Or is it also a juridical concept with robust institutional purchase and enforceable practical consequences in criminal litigation? The 16 new essays contained in this collection, written by prominent legal scholars and criminologists from Australia, Hong Kong, the UK and the USA, engage systematically with - and seek to generate further debate about - the theoretical and practical significance of 'integrity' at all stages of the criminal process. Reflecting the flexibility and scope of a putative 'integrity principle', the essays range widely over many of the most hotly contested issues in contemporary criminal justice theory, policy and practice, including: the ethics of police investigations, charging practice and discretionary enforcement; prosecutorial independence, policy and operational decision-making; plea bargaining; the perils of witness coaching and accomplice testimony; expert evidence; doctrines of admissibility and abuse of process; lay participation in criminal adjudication; the role of remorse in criminal trials; the ethics of appellate judgment writing; innocence projects; and state compensation for miscarriages of justice.




Child Sexual Abuse Reported by Adult Survivors


Book Description

Child Sexual Abuse Reported by Adult Survivors is a wide-ranging and timely critical history and analysis of legal responses to ‘historical’ or ‘non-recent’ child sexual abuse (NRCSA) in England and Wales, Ireland and Australia, each of which represents an evolving and progressive approach to this important and complex issue. The book examines the emergence of NRCSA as a distinctive social, political and legal phenomenon in each country and explores the legal responses developed to address its unprecedented challenges. Courts and parliaments in each country have reformed existing doctrine and practice and have created new ways of holding state and private actors accountable and new ways of addressing survivors’ injuries. Criminal law, tort law, public inquiries and state reparations have all been to the forefront of these new legal responses, which have transformed law’s engagement with NRCSA survivors and understandings of justice itself. However, despite this undeniable progress, the book identifies ways in which the legal responses developed in each country fail to deliver accountability and recognition to NRCSA survivors and argues that such failures betray the law’s inherent ambivalence to delivering justice for these survivors. Creating new insights into legal responses to this complex contemporary legal, social and political problem, this book will be of great interest to academic lawyers, political scientists and historians, as well as those working on related topics in criminology, sociology, social policy, cultural studies and gender studies.




Rethinking Rape Law


Book Description

Rethinking Rape Law provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of contemporary rape laws, across a range of jurisdictions. In a context in which there has been considerable legal reform of sexual offences, Rethinking Rape Law engages with developments spanning national, regional and international frameworks. It is only when we fully understand the differences between the law of rape in times of war and in times of peace, between common law and continental jurisdictions, between societies in transition and societies long inured to feminist activism, that we are able to understand and evaluate current practices, with a view to change and a better future for victims of sexual crimes. Written by leading authors from across the world, this is the first authoritative text on rape law that crosses jurisdictions, examines its conceptual and theoretical foundations, and sets the law in its policy context. It is destined to become the primary source for scholarly work and debate on sexual offences laws.




Sentencing Bench Book


Book Description

This book contains commentary on three key sentencing statutes, and on sentencing law for nine offence categories.




Rape on Trial


Book Description

First published in 1987, Rape on Trial investigates the impact of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 1976 and considers the treatment of rape victims by the courts in United Kingdom. Extracts from trials are used extensively, and the author examines in particular: how the anonymity provisions have worked out in practice; how far the victim’s previous sexual history is brought up in court; how far she is held to be responsible for her victimisation; ways in which the validity of her complaint is questioned in court; and defence strategies to present her as a legitimate victim. Also included are a critical discussion of the controversial question of sentencing for rape, and new proposals for legislative and procedural change. Extremely pertinent to current times, this book will be of interest to students of law, criminology, sociology as well as to any concerned citizen.




Evidence in Criminal Trials


Book Description

Shortlisted for DSBA Law Book of the Year Award 2020 Evidence in Criminal Trials is the first Irish textbook devoted exclusively to the subject of criminal evidence. This popular title provides comprehensive, detailed coverage of law and practice on the admissibility of evidence, the presentation of evidence in court and the pre-trial gathering and disclosure of evidence. The work combines analysis of traditional evidentiary doctrine with discussion of its application in practice and takes account of policy development and reform. The subject of evidence is discussed in the broader context of fundamental rights protection under the Constitution, the ECHR and EU law. This updated and extended second edition captures the many significant changes in the law of criminal evidence in recent years. The role of vulnerable witnesses in court proceedings is explored in new chapters on children and vulnerable adults, complainants in sexual offence trials, and victims of crime. The landmark Supreme Court decision in DPP v JC is analysed in an extended chapter on unlawfully obtained evidence and important case law developments relating to confessions and the right to silence are discussed in a detailed chapter on pre-trial interviews with suspects. Other chapters explore the case law of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal on testimony, corroboration, technological evidence, privilege and disclosure. The Law Reform Commission's recommendations in its 2016 Report on Consolidation and Reform of Aspects of the Law of Evidence are considered in the book's discussion of hearsay and expert evidence. This book will appeal to individuals working and studying in the areas of criminal law and evidence. It will be essential reading for legal practitioners, academics and law students and it will be of interest to others engaged with criminal justice and the court system. This title is included in Bloomsbury Professional's Irish Criminal Law online service.




Real Rape, Real Pain


Book Description

If you think you're alone in fearing the rapist in your home - abused even while you love the perpetrator - here's a book that will open your eyes to what numerous other women are going through, and teach you about rights, boundaries and healing from the trauma caused by partner rape. A challenge to silence and social myths about What ''real'' rape is, with the aim of preventing it from continuing.




Criminal Law in Ireland


Book Description