Jury directions are extremely complex and sometimes unintelligible, argues this report, which recommends ways to simplify and reform the jury direction process in Victoria. This report considers in detail a number of areas of law which currently give rise to jury directions which are extremely complex, and often described as unintelligible. Four areas have been...

From time to time a decision of the High Court is considered to have major implications for federalism in Australia. The list of such cases includes the Engineers case (1920), the Uniform Tax cases (1942 and 1957), the Tasmanian Dam case (1983), the excise duties decision in Ngo Ngo Ha v NSW (1997), and the...

Sentencing Children and Young People in Victoria covers the operation, functions, and philosophy of the Criminal Division of the Children’s Court. It presents a statistical profile of offences sentenced in the court, and identifies and analyses changes over a ten-year period (2000 to 2009 inclusive). The report also contains data on children and young people...

Medium-density housing is a major growth area in New Zealand urban development. As housing density intensifies it is important that design quality improves. This case study is one of three medium-density housing case studies developed by the Ministry for the Environment to support the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol. It presents a successful design solution...

This report indicates how people’s perceptions of crime can predict how confident they are in the courts and the legal system.