The Meaning of “Intoxication” in Australian Criminal Cases: Origins and Operation

IF 0.4 Q2 Social Sciences
Julia Quilter, Luke McNamara
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引用次数: 10

Abstract

Although alcohol and drug use features prominently in many areas of criminal offending, there has been limited investigation of how the effects of alcohol and other drugs are treated by criminal laws and the criminal justice system. This article examines the framing of judicial inquiries about “intoxication” in criminal cases in Australia. It illustrates the diverse types of evidence that may (or may not) be available to judges and juries when faced with the task of determining whether a person was relevantly “intoxicated.” It shows that in the absence of legislative guidance on how the task should be approached, courts tend to assign only a relatively marginal role to medical and scientific expert evidence, and frame the question as one that can be answered by applying common knowledge about the effects of alcohol and other drugs. The article examines the adequacy of this approach, given the weak foundation for assuming that the relationship between intoxication and the complex cognitive processes on which tribunals of fact are often required to reach conclusions (such as intent formation) is within the lay knowledge held by jurors and judges.
澳大利亚刑事案件中“醉酒”的含义:起源与运作
尽管酗酒和吸毒在许多犯罪领域具有突出特点,但对刑法和刑事司法系统如何处理酗酒和其他毒品的影响的调查有限。本文考察了澳大利亚刑事案件中关于“醉酒”的司法调查框架。它说明了法官和陪审团在面临确定一个人是否“醉酒”的任务时,可能(也可能不)可用的各种证据。它表明,在缺乏关于如何处理这项任务的立法指导的情况下,法院往往只赋予医学和科学专家证据相对次要的作用,并将这一问题定义为可以通过运用有关酒精和其他药物影响的常识来回答的问题。本文考察了这种方法的充分性,因为假设醉酒和复杂的认知过程之间的关系是陪审员和法官所掌握的外行知识,而事实法庭往往需要在这个过程中得出结论(如意图形成),这一假设的基础很薄弱。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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期刊介绍: Focused on examinations of crime and punishment in domestic, transnational, and international contexts, New Criminal Law Review provides timely, innovative commentary and in-depth scholarly analyses on a wide range of criminal law topics. The journal encourages a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches and is a crucial resource for criminal law professionals in both academia and the criminal justice system. The journal publishes thematic forum sections and special issues, full-length peer-reviewed articles, book reviews, and occasional correspondence.
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