Criminal responsibility as a distinctive form of corporate regulation
Throughout its life in the law, corporate criminal responsibility has attracted controversy. This article seeks to answer two foundational questions about this method of regulating corporate behaviour.
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Read moreDignity and the Future of Family Law
In December 2019 Principal Legal Officer Micheil Paton and Legal Officer Phoebe Tapley were published in the Griffith Journal of Law and Human Dignity analysing aspects of the ALRC’s Family Law Inquiry report through the lens of “human dignity”. This paper reviews the approach taken by the Australian Law Reform Commission in its recent family …
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Read moreFaith, hope , and charity – religion as a public benefit in modern Australia
Justice SC Derrington, President of the ALRC, presented at the Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (CLAANZ) Annual Public Lecture 2019 at the University of Melbourne on 29 November 2019.
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Read moreCorporate attribution – principled simplicity
In its Discussion Paper on Australia’s corporate criminal responsibility regime, the ALRC proposes a simplified method for attributing criminal responsibility to corporations. What follows is a short summary and explanation of the key principles underlying that proposal. The law treats corporations as ‘people’. Therefore, the prohibitions imposed on people are usually applicable for both humans …
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Read moreEvolving families and the continuing justification for rules particular to the regulation of families
Justice SC Derrington, President of the ALRC, presented at the Family and Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) National Conference 2019 on 21 November 2019.
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Read moreWhen Should Officers be Liable for Corporate Crime?
Research and consultations in the course of the ALRC’s Inquiry into Corporate Criminal Responsibility have highlighted the important role played by senior management in ensuring compliance throughout the different parts of a corporation. While corporations can be ‘a person’ under law, they are also made up of individuals – some of whom have authority and …
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Read moreEnsuring appropriate and effective regulation of corporations: A recalibration of Australian corporate regulation
In its Discussion Paper on Australia’s corporate criminal responsibility regime released on 15 November 2019, the ALRC proposes a new model of corporate regulation that aims to achieve more appropriate and effective regulation of corporations. Central to this is the adoption of a principled distinction between the use of criminal and civil regulation. A lack …
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Read moreAustralia’s no-fault divorce—why it remains controversial
In October 2019 Principal Legal Officer Micheil Paton spoke with ABC Radio National about some of the history of family law reform in Australia, and some of the ALRC’s recommendations from its Family Law Inquiry. Listen to the Rational National episode
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Read moreDeodands and Frankpledges!
While there are clear commercial and economic benefits as a result of the creation of the corporation, the construction of a legal artifice of ‘the legal person’ raises fundamental questions about the applicability of the criminal law to that artifice. A corporation cannot be sent to jail. It has no soul that may be damned.
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Read moreBe Civil not Criminal: The Role of the Criminal law in the Regulatory Pyramid
— The reality we have found is that when you actually map the criminal laws which are applicable to corporations, what you find is much closer to a rhomboid than a neat pyramid. The scope and scale and pervasiveness of criminal offences which are potentially applicable to corporations, is shocking. — Read Venetia’s full speech …
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