Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives (1) To provide advanced study in criminal law and procedure by reference to contemporary issues and problems not dealt with or insufficiently covered in LAW3300 and (2) to develop skills in legal research and the presentation of legal material.
Synopsis This subject consists of an examination of selected contemporary problems in criminal law. The content of the subject varies in response to new developments in the criminal law. Proposals for change to criminal law and procedure emanating from Australian law reform bodies will be given prominence. Topics will be drawn from both the general part of the criminal law, for example: automatism, insanity, intoxication, duress and entrapment; specific offences, for example, obscenity, contempt, homicide and sexual offences, and issues such as the role of the jury, sentencing and the function of the psychiatrist in the criminal process. Students will be called upon to undertake independent research using the extensive resources of the criminal law and criminology collections in the law library and to present the findings in seminars.
Assessment Two written research assignments (4000 words each): 40% each + Class presentation/participation: 20%