Courts and sentencing

Authors: Edney, Richard

A 1996 amendment to the Canadian Criminal Code aimed to reduce the over representation of Indigenous persons in prison, by requiring judicial officers to take Aboriginality into account in the […]

Internationally, sentencing research has largely neglected the impact of Indigeneity on sentencing outcomes. Using data from Western Australia’s higher courts for the years 2003-05, we investigate the direct and interactive […]

This paper reports findings from statistical analyses of Indigeneity and lower court sentencing in New South Wales and South Australia from 1998 to 2008. The aim was to explore the […]

Authors: Cooke, Michael

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 […]

This brief focuses on Indigenous sentencing courts, which operate in all Australian states and territories except Tasmania. These courts have been established according to protocols and practices, and can be […]

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Since 1999, a number of Indigenous sentencing courts have been established in Australia that use Indigenous community representatives to talk to a defendant about their offending and to assist a […]

Indigenous Australians are proportionately over-represented in the criminal justice system and particularly the prison system. Murri Court is an initiative of the Magistracy in Queensland to sentence Indigenous offenders in […]

This paper outlines the variety and scope of Indigenous sentencing practices which are in place in Australia, with a focus on the Queensland Murri Court. Many of the initiatives have […]

This brief highlights some current initiatives in operation in Australian courts which seek to make the court process more responsive to the needs of Indigenous participants, along with some examples […]

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Authors: Heath, Steven

Currently in Western Australia, there appears to be a greater level of innovation occurring in Magistrates Courts rather than the Superior Courts. This paper explores specific areas of innovation which […]