Principles of Federal Criminal Law 3rd ed

Principles of Federal Criminal Law 3rd Edition is a comprehensive examination of the general principles of federal criminal law outlined in Chapter 2 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code.

Stephen Odgers SC provides commentary on specific terms and phrases used in Chapter 2 as well as examples of how each principle may be applied.

As both the significance of the Code and number of offences under it continue to increase, practitioners must contend with its principles and language. This title guides the reader through the principles and makes them accessible both to criminal lawyers dealing with a widening range of criminal offences, and to commercial lawyers who must grapple with criminal penalties for commercial crime.

The Third Edition is updated to include treatment of the following developments:

• determining the precise physical elements of an offence: in Li v Chief of Army [2013], Agius v The Queen [2013] and other cases;
• difficulty applying the Code where a key term is defined elsewhere in statute: in Weng v The Queen [2013] and other cases;
• liability for omissions: in DPP (Cth) v Poniatowska [2011] and DPP (Cth) v Keating [2013];
• proving intention: in Luong v DPP (Cth);
• meaning of dishonesty: in Sayed v The Queen [2012] ;
• meaning of “a reasonable belief” to support a Code defence: in Luong v DPP (Cth) [2013] ;
• circumstances of “sudden or extraordinary emergency”: in Ajayi v The Queen [2012] and other cases;
• defence of mistake/ignorance of fact: in Bahar v The Queen [2011] and other cases;
• attempt: in Inegbedion v R [2013] and other cases;
• complicity: in Handlen v The Queen [2011] and other cases;
• conspiracy: in McKenzie v Magistrates' Court of Victoria [2013] and other cases; and
• evidential burden of proof: in The Queen v Khazaal [2012].

Principles of Federal Criminal Law 3rd Edition is a unique work offering essential guidance. This is provided in definitive form by one of Australia’s most distinguished lawyers, making this a must-have resource for practitioners in both criminal and commercial law, public lawyers, the courts, the police and academics.