Criminal Law and Justice

Co-ordinator: Professor Bernadette McSherry

Monash Law School has a long history of expertise in the area of criminal law and justice and this research cluster aims to continue this tradition.  The interests and expertise of this group are broad ranging from criminology, criminal justice and sentencing to prisons and prison management, mental health law, and sexual trafficking.

The members of this research cluster form part of the broader cross-Faculty Monash University Criminal Justice Research Consortium (CJRC) which aims to become an acknowledge leader in criminal justice research and a major contributor to policy development, through the application of combined expertise to the complex questions of criminal justice.

This cluster incorporates:  Alternative Dispute Resolution, Criminal Justice, Criminal Liability, Cybercrime, Juries - Criminology, Mental Health and Medical Law, Non-adversarial Justice, Prisons and Prison Management, Problem-solving Courts, Sentencing, Sexual Trafficking, The Confiscation of the Proceeds of Crime.

Current and recent research projects:

• Applying Human Rights Legislation in Closed Environments: A Strategic Framework for Managing Compliance
• Australian Jurors' Perspectives on Expert Evidence
• Confidentiality in Therapeutic Relationships: Developing Guidelines for Mental Health Professionals
• Delivering Effective Protection to Victims and Prevention of Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region
• Development of a Conceptual Framework to Broaden the Options for Women Achieving Justice in Sexual Assault Cases
• Down the Past: Criminal Record Chekcs and Access to Employment for Ex-Offenders.
• Evaluation of Prison Transition Programs
• Increasing Juror's Comprehension of the Jury Charge: Judicial Interviews
• Non-adversarial Justice and Alternative Dispute Resolution Research
• Policing Services and the Mentally Ill:  An Evidence-based Good Practice Model
• Practices and Procedures That Affect Juror Satisfaction in Australia
• Preventive Detention of High-Risk Offenders:  The Search for Effective and Legitimate Parameters
• Problem Solving Benchbook:  Assisting Judges and Magistrates to Adopt Problem-solving Approaches
• Rethinking Mental Health Laws: An Integrated Approach (ARC Federation Fellowship)
  

Links:

The cluster has diverse links with the following Faculties and organizations:

•   Monash University's Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences – Schools of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine
•   Monash University's Faculty of Arts – Bioethics and Criminology
•   Attorney General’s Department
•   World Vision
•   Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (Office of the Status of Women)
•   Department of Justice
•  International Crime Commission
•  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
• Federal and Community Legal Services.