Criminal law is the rules of statute and common law which direct that certain actions are punishable by the state. Each Australian jurisdiction has a body of criminal law. In some Australian jurisdictions the criminal law, or a defined part of it, is governed by a statutory code. Generally offences of a regulatory nature, such as parking offences and minor traffic offences are not considered to be part of the criminal law.
Criminology is the study of the causes, prevention, and correction of criminal behaviour.
(Edited from the Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary)
Related library guides: Criminal Justice and Criminology, International and Foreign Law
Research at Monash
The Transnational Criminal Law Group is part of the Monash University Faculty of Law and aims to foster innovative legal and conceptual approaches to shape criminal law, practice and policy development at the global, national and local levels.
Resources
For more legislation, see Lawlex
Use the case citator CaseBase or Westlaw Australia (Cases) to find specific cases from Australian courts.
- Australian Criminal ReportsSelected criminal cases from the High Court and the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of the States and Territories
- Victorian Sentencing Manual Case SummariesOverviews of sentencing outcomes for the offences most commonly considered in the Victorian Court of Appeal.
Journal Databases
- Informit (including AGIS Plus Text)Articles on legal topics from Australia and New Zealand journals.
- AFPD: Australian Federal Police DigestBibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from published and unpublished materials on policing, criminology and related fields
- CaseBase JournalsCaseBase indexes journal articles about Australian cases and legal topics. Links to full-text are provided if the journal is published and available on LexisNexis.
- CINCH Australian Criminology DatabaseBibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from published and unpublished material on all aspects of crime and criminal justice
- Criminal Justice Abstracts with full textFull-text database containing journal and magazine materials on criminal justice and criminology research
- Westlaw AustraliaAustralian case law, commentaries, journals, legal encyclopedia, and current affairs published by Thomson Reuters.
Australian Journals
- Improving the Response of the Justice System to Sexual Offences (Victorian Law Report Commission)The Commission has published eight short issues papers for the inquiry, Improving the Response of the Justice System to Sexual Offences. The Commission will report by 31 August 2021.
- Contempt of Court (Victorian Law Reform Commission) (2020 report)Current review and report on the law relating to contempt of court. The Commission delivered a final report on 4 August 2020.
- Committals (Victorian Law Reform Commission) (2020 report)Current review of committal and pre-trial procedures in indictable criminal matters. The Commission delivered a final report on 31 March 2020.
- Jury Empanelment (Victorian Law Reform Commission) (2014 report)In March 2013 the Commission was asked to review three aspects of jury empanelment for both criminal and civil trials:
- Jury Directions (Victorian Law Reform Commission) (2009 report)Review and recommendations to simplify, shorten or improve the directions given by judges to juries in criminal trials.
- Bail (Victorian Law Reform Commission) (2007 report)Review of the practice and law of the Bail Act 1977 (Vic) following an inquiry into failure to appear in court in response to bail.
- Royal Commission into Family Violence (2016 report)The Royal Commission into Family Violence delivered its report on March 29, 2016.
Discussion Papers
- Youth justice in Australia: Themes from recent inquiriesGarner Clancey, Sindy Wang and Brenda Lin, Australian Institute of Criminology, 2020.
- Legal Responses to One-Punch Homocide in Victoria: Understanding the Impact of Law ReformKate Fitz-Gibbon, Monash University, December 2018.
Research guides
- Court Justice: Sydney (via EduTV - for teaching use only)An inside look at the machinations of Australia's busiest local court.
- Criminal justice and public safety in videoCompilation of documentaries, training videos, and interviews visually depicting the theoretical principles and practical application of criminal justice and emergency response.
- Insight: On Trial (via EduTV - for teaching use only)Judges, barristers and court transcribers reveal what it's like to work in criminal law, from how they handle the sordid, lurid details to the complex, nefarious characters they come across.
- Insight: Wrongfully Convicted (via EduTV - for teaching use only)An examination of what it is like to be convicted of a crime and later be cleared of charges.
- Mock trial video: One punch, a lifetime of consequencesA new release video made by the Supreme Court of Victoria offers a short insight into how criminal trials are run, and shows the role of the judge, prosecution, defence, witnesses and jury, as well as the factors that go into sentencing an offender.
- Nathan Avent sentencing on TVThe first television coverage of court proceedings in Australia. Mr. Justice Bernard Teague sentences Nathan Avent for an axe murder. Interviews and commentary follow. Excerpt from Channel 7 News, May 19, 1995 (streamed mp4).
- On Trial: Proof or Truth (via EduTV - for teaching use only)On Trial is a groundbreaking, five-part documentary series featuring unprecedented access to major criminal trials in Australian courts.
- Supreme Court Sentences and Judgments Video PortalAudio and video webcasts of some judgments and sentences are streamed live and are available to listen to on demand.
- You be the Judge (Sentencing Advisory Council)Learn as you move through the experience about all of the factors involved in the sentencing process. Then you will be able to sentence each offender yourself and compare your sentence with that of the actual judge.
Sentencing and statistics
- Guide to Sentencing Schemes in Victoria (Sentencing Advisory Council)Provides an overview of sentencing schemes that apply to particular offences in Victoria.
- Penalties and values (Department of Justice and Community Safety)Find the current value of penalty units and interest rates.
- A Quick Guide to Sentencing (Sentencing Advisory Council)Now in its fifth edition, A Quick Guide to Sentencing explains the where, when, what and how of sentencing in Victoria.
- SACStat (Sentencing Advisory Council Statistics)A tool developed by the Sentencing Advisory Council for accessing sentencing statistics.
- Sentencing Snapshots (Sentencing Advisory Council)Sentencing Snapshots are short reports that include data for 31 offences heard in the County and Supreme Courts of Victoria.
- Victorian Sentencing Manual (Judicial College of Victoria)The 4th edition of the Victorian Sentencing Manual, which has been extensively edited and redesigned, was published late 2019.
- You be the Judge (Sentencing Advisory Council)Learn as you move through the experience about all of the factors involved in the sentencing process.
The Judicial College of Victoria produces the following online publications:
Additional online publications
At Monash
The Hart vs. Devlin Encore Debate. Presented by the Monash University Faculty of Law.
More information on YouTube.