Multiculturalism and the law
During the course of the inquiry, several consultation papers were released:An issues paper—Multiculturalism and the Law (ALRC IP 9) in 1990; andThree discussion papers in 1991—Multiculturalism: Family Law (ALRC DP 46); Multiculturalism: Criminal Law (ALRC DP 48); and Multiculturalism: Consumer Contracts (ALRC DP 49).The final report (ALRC Report 57) examined the principles underlying Australian family …
Inquiries
Read moreCriminal Admiralty Jurisdiction and Prize (ALRC Report 48)
ALRC Report 48 (tabled November 1990), the second report into admiralty jurisdiction, identified that the existing jurisdiction of Australian courts over offences committed at sea had two main sources—Imperial Admiralty legislation and modern Commonwealth or state legislation. Criminal Admiralty Jurisdiction and Prize (ALRC Report 48) found that this combination of sources had resulted in laws …
Publications
Read moreCriminal Admiralty Jurisdiction and Prize
In November 1982 the ALRC was directed to report on the Admiralty jurisdiction in Australia.ALRC Report 33 found that the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act 1890 (Imp) had limited civil admiralty jurisdiction to matters that were within the admiralty jurisdiction of England as at 1890. As a result there were many uncertainties about, and unjustified …
Inquiries
Read moreSentencing (ALRC Report 44)
ALRC Report 44 (tabled March 1988) represented the ALRC’s final work on the reference given to the Commission in 1978 and examined the sentencing and punishment of both federal and ACT offenders. The report examined the public concern that existed about inconsistency in sentencing and the difference between the term of imprisonment imposed by the …
Publications
Read moreThe Commonwealth Prisoners Act (Interim report) (ALRC Report 43)
The Attorney-General specifically asked the Commission to give an interim report on the anomalies present in the law governing parole and release before its final report was completed. It is this aspect of the subject that forms the basis of ALRC Report 43 (tabled March 1988).View ALRC Report 43 in HTMLon the AustLII website.
Publications
Read moreSentencing of federal offenders (1978-88)
In August 1978, the Attorney-General asked the ALRC to inquire into the ‘laws of the Commonwealth and the Australian Capital Territory relating to the imposition of punishment for offences and any related activity’. In 1979, a series of Research Papers was published as well as a Discussion Paper Sentencing: Reform Options (ALRC DP 10). In …
Inquiries
Read moreSpent convictions
The inquiry on spent convictions examined the question of whether criminal records should be deleted after specified time periods had elapsed. The Commission identified three related problems that affected former offenders: the extent to which members of the community could access information about criminal records; the extent to which access was being granted to that …
Inquiries
Read moreContempt
Terms of Reference for this inquiry were received on 7 April 1983. The doctrine of contempt had developed to allow courts to punish those who interfered with the administration of justice. At the time of the reference, a number of criticisms were being made of the doctrine as a whole. It was unclear exactly what …
Inquiries
Read moreSpent Convictions (ALRC Report 37)
The inquiry on spent convictions examined the question of whether criminal records should be deleted after specified time periods had elapsed. ALRC Report 37 was tabled in June 1987.View ALRC Report 37 in HTMLon the AustLII website.
Publications
Read moreContempt (ALRC Report 35)
ALRC Report 35 was tabled in June 1987. In it’s review of contemp laws, the Commission was required to strike a balance between a number of principles including freedom of speech and expression; the right of fair trial by an impartial tribunal; public scrutiny of the operations of the court system; and the protection of …
Publications
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