Handbook

This subject introduces students to criminal law, including substantive rules that define offences and procedures associated with the operation of the criminal justice system. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the study of criminal law and procedure; that is, informed by historical, sociological, criminological, political, philosophical and economic perspectives, as well as conventional legal perspectives. Related to this approach, the subject does not examine substantive rules and procedures in isolation, but examines their 'on the ground' operation (including via examination of empirical data). In addition, the subject considers the broader context in which decisions about the criminalisation of different types of behaviour and the enforcement of criminal laws are made. Students are encouraged to see criminal law as only one of a variety of regulatory mechanisms, and to assess its merits relative to other methods of regulation. Topics include: criminalisation, the criminal process, components of criminal offences and examination of a range of ways the criminal law responds to violence including homicide, assault, domestic violence and sexual assault.