{"title":"Same but different? Assessing reforms to mental incapacity in criminal law","authors":"A. Loughnan","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2126577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2126577","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In a field typically marked by stasis over long periods of time, in recent years, there have been significant changes in NSW regarding the way in which criminal law deals with mental incapacity. Taken together, these reforms represent a move away from reliance on the common law toward legislation that is posited as modernising and streamlining this part of criminal law. With a focus on Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW), this article offers an assessment of the reforms relating to criminal responsibility. I argue that, while some of the reforms are positive, some represent missed opportunities, and some may even have negative consequences. In particular, the enhanced role for victims of crime that underscores several reforms may not achieve the outcomes desired by defendants/patients, victims or others. Overall, the changes encode a fundamental recasting of mental incapacity in criminal law. Stepping away from the specifics of the Act, this article also offers some brief reflections on this recasting. In particular, I suggest that change in this area is hooked on a dilemma, around similarity and difference and the place of the forensic system within criminal justice more broadly.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"35 1","pages":"162 - 179"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46386689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When criminal diversion is a temporary solution: rethinking drug rehabilitation policy in Thailand","authors":"Srisombat Chokprajakchat, Wanaporn Techagaisiyavanit, Tongyai Iyavarakul, Attapol Kuanliang","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2133379","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2133379","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article reflects on the need for Thailand to re-evaluate its criminal diversion policy for people who use drugs (PWUD). Although studies have examined the impact of criminalising drug use through social and economic perspectives, the issue of how a punitive legal scheme interplays with PWUD's perceptions of drug use and motivation to seek treatment has not received wide scholarly attention in Thailand. This study's primary objective is to shed light on the adverse effects of legal pressure on motivation among PWUD within Thailand's drug rehabilitation systems to assist in shaping its future policy. The study employed a qualitative methodology: in-depth interviews with 69 participants who received drug treatment under the voluntary and compulsory drug diversionary systems in Thailand, as well as 50 government officials and personnel at the administrative and operational levels within the Thai criminal justice system and rehabilitation agencies. The study found that criminalisation schemes can impede system-level rehabilitation goals by failing to recognise the personal needs of participants, with PWUD entering treatment programs only to avoid criminal prosecution.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"34 1","pages":"418 - 434"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42443933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fatal police encounters – it’s not just shootings","authors":"Lawrence Bowler, K. Hine, R. Fleet","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2127461","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2127461","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT One of the most critical issues in policing today is citizen deaths that occur as a result of police encounters. Most of the fatal police encounters research tends to focus on fatalities as a direct result of police actions such as fatal shootings. However, there are a wide variety of ways in which fatalities occur during police encounters that may not be due to direct police actions (for example accidents and suicide). This study examines both direct and indirect forms of fatal police encounters. To do this, a chi-squared analysis was conducted of 106 fatal police encounters that occurred across two Australian states. The findings reveal that over three-quarters of fatal police encounters within the data were a result of indirect police actions. These findings highlight the prominence of indirect fatal police encounters and, in turn, the greater opportunity to focus on prevention strategies for these often-neglected deaths in the research.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"34 1","pages":"383 - 400"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41696444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Conceptions and degrees of innocence: the principles, pragmatics, and policies of the innocence movement","authors":"David Hamer","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2114870","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2114870","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Over the last few decades, the innocence movement in the United States and the United Kingdom has contributed to the correction of many hundreds of mistaken convictions. Complacency about the accuracy of convictions has been displaced by ‘innocence consciousness’. The movement has highlighted underlying problems with the criminal justice process, giving impetus for reform. However, the innocence movement has traditionally had a confined focus, excluding defendants convicted of murder who actually killed accidentally, and sexual assault defendants where the complainant actually did consent. These exclusions appear to be the product of pragmatism rather than principle. They make it easier to achieve exoneration, and tell a story that is simpler and more palatable. However, these restrictions potentially create policy blind spots. The current challenge for the maturing movement is to be conscious of, and seek to overcome, these limitations.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"35 1","pages":"81 - 99"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47881501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The role of mercy and sentencing for infanticide: the tragic case of R v Guode","authors":"Natalia Antolak-Saper","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2115597","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2115597","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The unimaginable circumstances that would drive a woman to kill her child will often justify a more lenient or ‘merciful’ response. However, there is a risk that the use of ‘mercy’ suggests a sentence that is otherwise unjust and has been reduced without reference to sentencing principles. Using the recent high-profile Victorian case of R v Guode, this article examines the notion of mercy in cases of infanticide. It is argued that references to mercy as a sentencing principle should be avoided, and are more appropriately described as mitigating factors justifying a more lenient, but just, punishment. Despite this, sentencing decisions are a form of communication, primarily to the offender, but also to the wider community. In this regard, the use of the word ‘mercy’ may be considered as an important value statement. It is therefore argued that ‘mercy’ should be used, if at all, as a way of communicating the rationale for what might otherwise appear to the public as an unduly lenient sentence for the murder of a child.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"35 1","pages":"65 - 80"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44932262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Baker, Krista Fisher, Matthew Hamilton, S. Rice, R. Purcell
{"title":"Providing a pathway to community-based psychosocial or mental health support services for young people following initial encounters with police: a scoping review","authors":"D. Baker, Krista Fisher, Matthew Hamilton, S. Rice, R. Purcell","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2111808","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2111808","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Offending behaviour peaks during adolescence and most lifetime mental ill-health has its onset before 18 years of age. An overlap in offending behaviour and mental ill-health is also associated with an increased risk of crime victimisation. Best-practice approaches to intervene early with these cohorts are unclear. This study aimed to identify evidence for the acceptability and effectiveness of programs that divert young people from an early encounter with police to community-based psychosocial or mental health support. A Participant-Concept-Context model was used to determine literature search terms. A search of databases for peer-reviewed articles (n = 3998) and an Internet search for grey literature documents (n = 505) was conducted. Nine eligible articles and five documents were included in the review. Analysis of two models found improvements in daily functioning, emotion regulation and reduced self-harm potential. The importance of collaborative relationships between the police, service providers and other stakeholders for effective program delivery was regularly reported. There is emerging evidence of the acceptability and effectiveness of existing diversion or early intervention programs, but limited evidence for victim support services. More research is needed to understand young people's preferences for pathway models and how crime victimisation support can be incorporated.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"34 1","pages":"360 - 382"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44629465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Making no-case submissions in self-defence claims for primary victims of intimate partner violence charged with criminal offending","authors":"Stella Tarrant","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2109247","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2109247","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Investigators, prosecutors, judges and juries have found self-defence against intimate partner violence (IPV) difficult to perceive on the facts before them because of inaccurate assumptions about the nature of this form of violence. Reforms have focussed on making sure juries have a more accurate understanding of IPV so they can make fairer assessments. These legislative and common law reforms have opened up space for a different kind of legal argument, about the insufficiency of evidence in the state's case against a defendant: no-case submissions. If a state's case is based on a misunderstanding of a defendant's claim about what they were up against when they used force, there is no way of even beginning the legal assessments required by self-defence. No-case arguments are appropriately directed at the structural nature of this problem. This article examines two Australian cases, in which primary victims of IPV were acquitted of charges that they murdered or injured their abusive partner, following submissions that the state had failed to bring evidence capable of proving the defendant had not acted defensively and within reason. These cases show how criminal prosecutions against primary victims of IPV can be challenged.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"35 1","pages":"48 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44429599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Murray Lee, T. Martin, Jioji Ravulo, Ricky Simandjuntak
{"title":"[Dr]illing in the name of: the criminalisation of Sydney drill group ONEFOUR","authors":"Murray Lee, T. Martin, Jioji Ravulo, Ricky Simandjuntak","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2100131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2100131","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The criminalisation of hip-hop artists is not new. The focus of attention for police has tended to be on artists of colour (in particular) who include descriptions of violence in their lyrics. The sprawling multicultural western suburbs of Sydney Australia have become a fertile breeding-ground for a wave of drill rap artists, some of whom explore violent themes. This dynamic scene was kicked off by Pacifica group ONEFOUR. Popular internationally, ONEFOUR have been subject to prolonged police and media attention resulting in cancelled tours and untested allegations of criminality. This article uses a framework of musicriminology to explore the aesthetic and cultural elements of ONEFOUR's influence and infamy. It also places Australian drill music in its socio-historical and post-colonial context to explain why it has attracted censure. We suggest that ONEFOUR's brand of Australian drill represents a Western Sydney ‘other’; a population both under-represented (in terms a cultural voice) and over-represented (in the criminal justice system) (Ahmad, 2013). The dark aesthetic, unnerving sonics and bleak lyrics of some drill exposes the underbelly of post-colonial neo-liberalism and groups economically excluded and socially marginalised. It tells stories abhorrent to moral gate-keepers and creating an atmosphere of geo-spatialised and sonically-informed danger.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"34 1","pages":"339 - 359"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45779446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The use of fire and threats to burn in the context of domestic and family violence and coercive control","authors":"H. Douglas","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2095794","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2095794","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Fire can be harnessed by abusive partners or ex-partners in their efforts to maintain and regain control in an abusive relationship. Reports about the use of fire in the context of domestic and family violence are not uncommon in the media, with incidents of house fires, burning cars and using fire to kill or cause harm and threats to burn ex-partners and children being regularly reported. This article analyses 49 reported legal cases where the offender has been found guilty of a criminal offence when they used or threatened to use fire to cause harm in the context of domestic and family violence. It considers how fire is used in abusive relationships to exert control, and it examines the co-occurrence of mental health and drug misuse issues in the cases. The article concludes that fire departments are an important part of the domestic and family violence safety system. It also identifies that the use of fire as a tool of abuse in the context of domestic and family violence is under-examined in Australia and makes some suggestions for further research.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"35 1","pages":"27 - 47"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45543201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Criminal law reform and the progressives—the case of provocation","authors":"Andrew Dyer","doi":"10.1080/10345329.2022.2097369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2022.2097369","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this article, I consider the Australian criminal law reform campaign to abolish the partial defence of provocation. I argue that, while abolitionists were motivated by an admirable concern for equality, their proposal—which has now been adopted in many Australian jurisdictions—inadequately balanced the competing autonomy claims of victims on one hand and the accused on the other. Like the mid-twentieth-century English higher judiciary, abolitionists’ hostility to the partial defence was too unqualified—and they placed too little emphasis on the interests of accused persons. That said, they were right to argue that liberal provocation law, by being too solicitous of the welfare of certain accused, had had deeply illiberal effects. If the criminal law is to be truly progressive, it must do what it can to achieve fairness for disfavoured minorities—including those accused of serious offending.","PeriodicalId":43272,"journal":{"name":"Current Issues in Criminal Justice","volume":"35 1","pages":"180 - 195"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47584405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}