This article discusses a not-so-obvious question of what kinds of people and organisations actually perform the role of a regulator, and why this might matter.

Negotiating guilty pleas (‘plea bargaining’) is a central element of criminal justice processes in Australia, yet little is known outside the legal community about the frequency and outcomes of plea negotiations. This study addresses this important knowledge gap through qualitative and quantitative analysis of cases that were resolved through negotiated guilty pleas in Victorian courts.

First published in February 2008, the research paper was written in response to the abolition of provocation as a partial defence to murder following the Victorian Law Reform Commission's review of defences to homicide. The Commission recommended that, rather than raising a partial defence to murder, provocation should simply be taken into account in the...

This paper is intended as an examination of some of the sentencing policy issues and principles raised by the abolition of the partial defence of provocation in light of the VLRC Homicide Report. Although the authors' main focus is on considering provocation in sentencing offenders convicted of murder as a result of the new law...

The current system for imposition and collection of fines in Australia is significantly flawed. Fines are often inappropriately imposed/not imposed, inequitable, have high default rates and are expensive to enforce. This paper suggests an alternative scheme for the enforcement and collection of fines, a Fine Enforcement Collection Scheme (FECS), based on the principles underlying the...