Hemming on "Criminal Code Design and Sentencing: A Response to Joshua Kleinfeld's Theory of Criminal Victimization"

Dr. Andrew Hemming, a Senior Lecturer in the USQ School of Law and Justice, has just published a rejoinder article titled 'Criminal Code Design and Sentencing: A Response to Joshua Kleinfeld's Theory of Criminal Victimization.'  The article appears in Volume 52(2) of the University of San Francisco Law Review.

Crowley-Cyr asks "Are warnings effective in communicating jellyfish hazards?"

Attribution: TydeNet (Wikimedia Commons)

Associate Professor Lynda Crowley-Cyr of the USQ School of Law and Justice has published an article that attempts to answer the important question:  Are warnings effective in communicating jellyfish hazards?  The article appears in Volume 34(2) on pages 181-197 of the Journal of Health, Safety and Environment.

Gray on "Internment of Terrorism Suspects: Human Rights and Constitutional Issues"

Professor Anthony Gray of the USQ School of Law and Justice has recently published an article titled Internment of Terrorism Suspects: Human Rights and Constitutional Issues in the Australian Journal of Human Rights (Vol 24, No. 3).  Here is the abstract:

"There have been recent calls for the parliament to re-introduce a system of internment of those suspected of future terrorist activity. Preventive detention regimes have a long history within the common law, and to some extent our laws still contain preventive detention aspects. International legal materials would arguably generally prohibit such regimes; however, they also contain exceptions permitting governments to derogate from fundamental human rights in times of emergency or war. This article considers whether, if the Australian Parliament were to implement such a scheme, it would be constitutionally valid. This involves determining whether the Commonwealth’s defence power would support such a law, and the nature of the power to preventively detain an individual. Could such a power be exercised by a government minister, or would it need to be exercised, if at all, by a court?"

Hemming in "Halsbury's Laws of Australia"

USQ Senior Lecturer Andrew Hemming has recently published three entries in the comprehensive legal encyclopedia Halsbury's Laws of Australia.  The entries are:

* Criminal Law GC V Chapters 6 and 7, GC VI, and GC VII;

* Criminal Law GC VIII. Update of Criminal Law GC VIII;

* Contract GC I, II, and V (with Michael Daniel).

Gray on "The Enterprise Risk Theory of Vicarious Liability"

Professor Anthony Gray of the USQ School of Law and Justice has recently published an article titled The Enterprise Risk Theory of Vicarious Liability in Volume 46 (Part 3) of the Australian Business Law Review.  Here is the abstract:


"While the law of vicarious liability has existed for centuries, a satisfactory rationale or explanation for it has proven to be elusive. United States courts began asserting a theory of “enterprise risk” based on economic principles, seeking to allocate the costs associated with doing business to the enterprise. On this basis, the fact that an employee or other worker commits a wrong, and causes a third party injury or loss, is a “cost of doing business” which should properly be allocated to the business activity. This doctrine has apparently been accepted in Canada and the United Kingdom, including seeing child abuse committed within an educational institution as effectively a cost of doing business. While the Australian courts at one point seemed to accept such reasoning, more recently they have turned away from it. This article argues the Australian courts were right to do so, and should continue to not accept such a basis of vicarious liability."

Patrick on Individual Spirituality and Freedom of Religion

Dr. Jeremy Patrick, a Lecturer at the USQ School of Law and Justice, has written a piece for The Conversation titled "Religious freedoms should include spiritual beliefs too".  Patrick discussed the topic in subsequent interviews with Radio Adelaide and ABC RN Drive.

Gray on "Vicarious Liability: Critique and Reform"

Professor Anthony Gray of the USQ School of Law and Justice published a new book last month in Hart Publishing's "Studies in Private Law" series.  The book is titled Vicarious Liability: Critique and Reform.  Here is the publisher's summary:

"The scope of vicarious liability has significantly expanded since its original conception. Today employers are being found liable for actions of employees that they did not authorise, and never would have authorised if asked. They are being held liable for an employee's criminal activity. In the related strict liability field of non-delegable duties, they are being held liable for wrongdoing of independent contractors.

Notions of strict liability have grown increasingly isolated in the law of tort, given the exponential growth in the tort of negligence. They require intellectual justification. Such a justification has proven to be elusive and largely unsatisfactory in relation to vicarious liability and to concepts of non-delegable duty. The law of three jurisdictions studied has now apparently embraced the 'enterprise risk' theory to rationalise the imposition of vicarious liability. This book subjects this theory to strong critique by arguing that it has many weaknesses, which the courts should acknowledge. It suggests that a rationalisation of the liability of an employer for the actions of an employee lies in more traditional legal doctrine which would serve to narrow the circumstances in which an employer is legally liable for a wrong committed by an employee."