List of Titles

Authors: Camilleri, Marg , Harkness, Alistair
Date: 2023
Type: Text , Book chapter
Relation: Australian Courts : controversies, challenges and change Chapter 5 p. 95-119
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Description: Police prosecutors play a critical role in the Victorian summary jurisdiction. While scarce, the available literature identifies concerns about the use of police prosecutors, including a lack of independence from investigative police the opaque police prosecutor decision-making the potential bias in favour of police informants the lack of uniformity in training requirements the high workloads and the lack of clear, uniform and public guidelines all which may have real or perceived impacts upon court outcomes for accused and victims alike and upon the public’s confidence in the administration of justice. This is particularly so in the context of increasing volume, complexity and seriousness of summary offences. This chapter supports the need for an evidence-based review of police-led prosecutions which includes the impacts on case outcomes, and whether certain reforms may be necessary.

Authors: Camilleri, Marg , Harkness, Alistair
Date: 2023
Type: Text , Book chapter
Relation: Australian Courts : controversies, challenges and change Chapter 16 p. 367-390
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Reviewed:
Description: Courts are complex institutions which must constantly adjust to ensure that they are fulfilling their responsibilities to defendants, victims, witnesses, society and others who enter court spaces either virtually or physically. Courts must also manage their relationships with other agencies (whether justice or community) on whom they rely. Courts face an array of challenges in contemporary Australia, including the COVID-19 pandemic which has necessitated courts to pivot from inherently complex systems which are primarily public facing to virtual spaces which must continue to maintain the rule of law and to be open, transparent and subject to scrutiny. This chapter considers other challenges, too, which various courts and those who work in, with or appear before are facing. It assesses a suite of potential micro and macro reforms, advocating for ongoing systemic and structural change.

Authors: Camilleri, Marg , Harkness, Alistair
Date: 2023
Type: Text , Book chapter
Relation: Australian Courts : controversies, challenges and change Chapter 12 p. 269-296
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Reviewed:
Description: Victims of crime are key to holding perpetrators to account. Despite being instigators of reports, victim/survivors of sexual assault have long felt alienated from the court process and criminal justice system more broadly. This chapter draws on contemporary literature to consider the contested terrain of “participatory rights” for victim/survivors. Highlighted are a range of reforms implemented since 1994 which elevate the voices and acknowledge the experiences of victim/survivors. Despite the reforms, victim/survivors continue to feel alienated and, in particular, the voices of victim/survivors with cognitive impairment and complex communication needs are sometimes ignored at the point of first report. Considered here are the barriers to effective reform implementation and proposed reforms for continuous advocacy and legal representation. This chapter supports calls for legal representation to continue through to the conclusion of trial proceedings.

Authors: Camilleri, Marg , Harkness, Alistair
Date: 2023
Type: Text , Book chapter
Relation: Australian Courts : controversies, challenges and change Chapter 2 p. 19-44
Full Text: false
Reviewed:
Description: Recognising the oftentimes polarising nature of court decision-making—and the overt public interest and political sensitivities which exist—this chapter focuses on the public influence on legislative decision-making with regard to the courts and court processes. It considers the blurring of boundaries in regard to mandatory sentencing the parliamentary appetite for sentencing reform and the questioning of sentencing outcomes and other court practices. How to reconcile public attitudes (and thus parliamentary action) with magisterial, judicial, parole board and bail justice decision-making is a significant challenge. Various actors have a role to play in promoting accountability and positive change, including sentencing advisory councils, parliamentary law reform committees, legal services boards, community legal centres and other bodies—in advocating for positive change, fairness and equity based on sound evidence rather than potentially knee-jerk reactions to public conjecture.

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