LAWS1206 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Criminal Law Of Australia, Crimes Act 1900, Diminished Responsibility
Week 1 Wednesday
Wednesday, 22 February 2017
16:08
Jurisdiction: what law applies
NSW and the ACT
Elements of offence: concepts of mens rea, actus rea
Intoxication: legislation
Jurisdiction and the rule of law
Formal equality and substantive equality (distinguish)
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Colonisation: bringing UK criminals to Australia
FEDERATION 1901
Does an indigenous criminal law continue to operate?
English criminal law did not, and Australian criminal law does not, accommodate an
alternative body of law operating alongside it
There is no indigenous criminal law
Payback- movie
Man killed someone, in central Australia,
Real issue is how much and to what extent this dominant group is prepared to tolerate the
operation of indigenous laws in parallel to its own
After federation
9 criminal law jurisdiction
Each state and territory has its own criminal law regime
QLD, WA,NT,TAS- Code Jurisdiction
NSW,VIC,SA,CTH- criminal law legislation supplemented by the common law, adopted
English and later Aus Common Law concepts
Now
Cth/Federal jurisdiction: codified criminal law based on the MCC
ACT jurisdiction: in transition from a common law criminal jurisdiction to a codified
criminal law based on the MCC – to be entirely codified by 1 July 2017?
NT adopted Chapter 2 of MCC in 2005 – in transition from a Griffith Code
jurisdiction.
What is the MCC and aims?
Aim of codification is to be systematic and comprehensive,
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Easier to discover what the law is
Start with a code, making it efficient
Less need to rely on case laws
p.84
Getting the Jurisdiction Right
Ward v The Queen (1980) 142 CLR 308
Shot across the border from Vic into NSW
Found guilty of murder in Vic – appealed
Diminished responsibility available in NSW
Upheld: NSW was where the act completed
TEERMINATORY TEST: place where the consequences of that conduct
occurred
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Document Summary
Elements of offence: concepts of mens rea, actus rea. English criminal law did not, and australian criminal law does not, accommodate an alternative body of law operating alongside it. Real issue is how much and to what extent this dominant group is prepared to tolerate the operation of indigenous laws in parallel to its own. Each state and territory has its own criminal law regime. Nsw,vic,sa,cth- criminal law legislation supplemented by the common law, adopted. Cth/federal jurisdiction: codified criminal law based on the mcc. Nt adopted chapter 2 of mcc in 2005 in transition from a griffith code jurisdiction. Aim of codification is to be systematic and comprehensive, Easier to discover what the law is. Start with a code, making it efficient. Less need to rely on case laws. Ward v the queen (1980) 142 clr 308. Shot across the border from vic into nsw. Found guilty of murder in vic appealed. Upheld: nsw was where the act completed.
