NCJ Number
184698
Date Published
1996
Length
1469 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the content and application of criminal law in New South Wales (Australia) considers issues associated with apprehending criminals, the criminal process, components of criminal offenses in general and in particular, and sentencing and corrections.
Abstract
This second edition continues to affirm the organizing principles of the first edition; i.e., the challenging of many of the common assumptions about criminal law; an emphasis on race, class, and gender in the operation of the criminal process; discretion exercised at every level of criminal process, the relationship between substantive and procedural criminal law; the relative empirical importance of various offenses, defenses, and process; and a broader view of "legal" sources. In the chapter on criminal process, the authors have abandoned the attempt in the first edition to cover each step in the criminal process in sequence and selected a number of themes relevant to an understanding of the operation of the substantive criminal law; for example, the ubiquity of discretion, the existence of two tiers of justice, and the invisibility and punitive impact of pretrial processes. Further, apart from a detailed updating of the case law and legislation, this second edition identifies emerging trends and initiatives, particularly the increasing impact of the work of the Model Criminal Code Officers Committee of the Standing Committee of Attorneys General. Separate chapters address homicide; assault and sexual assault; public order offenses; drug offenses; dishonest acquisition; and attempt, conspiracy, and complicity. A subject index