Handbook

This course introduces students without a legal background to the key concepts and principles that underpin criminal laws in Australia, focussing particularly on the common law jurisdictions. It provides an important foundation for other courses offered in the Criminal Justice & Criminology Program.

Students will examine the way criminal responsibility attaches to certain behaviours,
how that criminal responsibility is processed via the agencies of the State, and, finally, the disposition of offences by way of sentencing.

The course provides a critical examination of the elements of major substantive criminal offences and defences, within the wider historical, social and political context.

Main Topics

• Sources of Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Substantive Offences (selected)
• Defences to Criminal Liability (selected)
• Sentencing and Punishment