The Magistrates Early Referral into Treatment (MERIT) program is a New South Wales court-based scheme targeting adult defendants appearing before a participating Local Court who have a demonstrable illicit drug […]
New Zealand has a very high rate of imprisonment when contrasted with other comparable countries. Nevertheless New Zealand also has a number of initiatives and projects which seek to engage […]
Our legal system was largely inherited from Britain, so it is, therefore based in European-Western cultural and legal traditions. Alongside this, and over many thousands of years, Australian Indigenous communities […]
This paper is based on the observation that when an Aboriginal person speaks some English, lawyers often overestimate their capacity to be fairly interviewed in English. The paper explores the […]
Resources November,2022
Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) provide information to courts on an individual’s background, circumstances, risks, needs and plans. Research has found that PSRs focus heavily on risk of recidivism, while identification of […]
Evaluations of the Perth Drug Court Pilot Project : Final Report
This paper The current controversy with respect to mandatory minimum sentencing laws takes place within a wider context of a general discussion on sentencing reform. This discussion has generally focused […]
Australia’s rising imprisonment rates and the use of prisons as a social policy tool are examined. Factors for this rise could be: increasing criminal justice budgets; competition between political parties […]
This comment sets out the specific areas of conflict between mandatory sentencing and key human rights standards and provides a summary of criticism of mandatory sentencing by key United Nations […]
This report presents key findings and recommendations developed as part of an independent evaluation of Queensland’s Remote Justices of the Peace (Magistrates Court) Program (JP Court program), conducted by researchers […]