Contents

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JCL 70 (2006) 223

The Law Commission's proposed restructuring of homicide
Jonathan Rogers 

This article overviews the Law Commission’s proposed reforms of homicide with a critical but constructive eye. First and foremost, the article supports the proposed restructuring, recommending only that concrete suggestions be made for the situation when jurors agree upon second degree murder for different reasons. But the Commission’s reasons for not considering whether consent to be killed should reduce first degree murder to second degree murder do not stand up to scrutiny and a possible formulation of such a partial defence is examined. Further, the Commission’s definition of ‘reckless indifference’ needs to be clarified and suggestions are offered for consideration.

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JCL 70 (2006) 247

Models of understanding criminal behaviour and the sentencing process: a place for criminological theory?
Richard Edney 

The method by which a sentencing court understands the reasons for the commission of a criminal offence is crucial to the framing of the ultimate disposition imposed in all of the circumstances of the offence and the offender. Under Australian criminal law the insights of criminology are rarely, if ever, used in the discharge of the sentencing function. In particular, theories of crime causation evident in schools of criminological thought are not relied upon even though ostensibly such theories would appear to have a degree of relevance to the sentencing task. In this article, a short sketch of contemporary criminological theory is provided. This is followed by a survey of the use of criminological theory under Australian criminal law and what role, if any, it plays in contemporary criminal justice administration. Finally, consideration is given as to whether or not criminological theory would be of assistance in the discharge of the sentencing task in relation to not only understanding the reasons for the commission of the offence by the offender, but also in the determination of the appropriate sanction.

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Links to other issues

Volume 65 (2001) :   1   2   3   4   5   6

Volume 66 (2002) :   1   2   3   4   5   6

Volume 67 (2003) :   1   2   3   4   5   6

Volume 68 (2004) :   1   2   3   4   5   6

Volume 69 (2005) :   1   2   3   4   5   6

Volume 70 (2006) :   1   2   3   4   5   6

Volume 71 (2007) :   1   2   3   4   5   6

Volume 72 (2008) :   1   2   3   4   5   6

Volume 73 (2009) :   1   2   3   4   6

Volume 74 (2010) :   1   2   3   4

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