Australian Federal Criminal Law

Most of the more serious federal criminal offences are codified in the Commonwealth Criminal Code. It now consists of eight chapters, ranging in subject matter from offences of dishonesty, through terrorism, sexual slavery, drug trafficking, crimes against humanity and cybercrime. The content of the Code is still growing rapidly. The Code is divided between a general part - Chapter 2 General Principles of Criminal Responsibility - which provides a comprehensive codification of the general principles - and Chapters 4 - 10, the special part of the Code, which contains the substantive offences. Federal criminal law occupies an increasingly large proportion of criminal litigation and federal legislative policy increasingly determines the scope and content of state and territorial laws dealing with fraud, illicit drugs, internet and computer crime. The course will present an overview of federal criminal law. The importance of the general principles of criminal liability will be emphasised and their application will be discussed in a range of substantive areas of criminal law drawn from the following:
Corporate Crime and Cultures of Non Compliance; Federal jurisdiction; Foreign and Domestic Bribery; Crimes of Dishonesty- Identity Theft; Terrorism, Crimes against Infrastructure: cybercrime, money laundering and telecommunications offences; Drug Trafficking Law; Sex Slavery And Child Pornography; The Civil/Criminal Divide: forfeiture and pecuniary penalties; Aspects of Federal Sentencing Law.