bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
INVESTMENT IN PRISONS: AN INVESTMENT IN SOCIAL EXCLUSION? Linking the Theories of Justice Reinvestment and Social Inclusion to Examine Australia’s Propensity to Incarcerate
Authors: Guthrie Dr Jill , Levy Dr Michael , Fforde Dr Cressida
Published: August 2024

Much of the conceptual space occupied by Justice Reinvestment theory suggests clear links with the theoretical framework of Social Inclusion and therein understandings of the social determinants of health. This article seeks to explore this mutually interested and unified relationship, and furthermore examine how their combined adoption in Australia would provide benefits for the general population as well as those in contact with the criminal justice system. Despite the existence of consistently strong links between social disadvantage and imprisonment, it is apparent the social determinants of health have yet to adequately address their implications for incarceration. Forming these links, this article will introduce and explore the notion of the social determinants of incarceration. Moreover, the importance of the social and economic imperatives to be realised through the adoption of Justice Reinvestment ideals will be argued, in turn providing explanation for why the coalescing of Justice Reinvestment and Social Inclusion is fundamentally important to consider. Therefore, we hope to prompt insightful questioning of our current institutional processes such as: Is investment in new prisons really investment in social exclusion?
EDITORIAL
Authors: Armao Jessica
Published: August 2024

Violence is, unfortunately, an experience most people go through in the course of their lives.1 This violence comes in many guises, so it should hardly come as a surprise that people do not all experience violence the same way or in the same form.
FATAL LOVE
Authors: Howe Dr Adrian
Published: August 2024

The media and community reaction to Australia’s most recent filicide case is the starting point for an analysis of the continuing misrecognition of “family” violence as isolated tragic events that could “happen to anyone”. It doesn’t. There is a clear pattern of women victims and male perpetrators, many of whom kill over lost love. A particularly innovative strategy currently being deployed in the UK is explored for its potential to subvert in order to convert intimate femicide into a first-order political problem.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: TODAY I SPEAK OUT
Authors: Anonymous _
Published: August 2024

This article is a first-person narrative on the lived experience of a domestic violence victim. The author wanted to write about her experience to provide an insight into why women remain in domestic violence situations. It is her hope that others will realise how the system fails the victims, it is her hope that sufferers will gain courage, and it is her hope that a holistic framework of support is developed. Today she speaks out!
LET'S TALK ABOUT VAGINAS...FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION: THE FAILURE OF INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS AND HOW TO END AN ABUSIVE TRADITION
Authors: QC Felicity Gerry
Published: August 2024

Female Genital Mutilation (‘FGM’) is not related to any specific colour or religion, but to a patriarchal system. This article explores its history and culture, and explains that tackling the practice of FGM has been affected by estimated data and the failure to implement decades of international obligations. The threat or use of criminal prosecution, together with non-legal community engagement, works more swiftly to protect women and girls from FGM. Combined with modern media, such an approach gives women in every community a voice. The recognition, debate, and enforcement of these simple truths can speed the process of compliance with international obligations across the world, and can eradicate FGM.
PATHOLOGIES IN QUEENSLAND LAW-MAKING: REPAIRING POLITICAL CONSTITUTIONALISM
Authors: Isdale William , Orr Dr Graeme
Published: August 2024

Law-making in Queensland has suffered decades of ongoing pathologies. Such institutional infirmity is a product of a shallow political constitutionalism which trusts an all-mighty executive to dominate a unicameral legislature composed by winner-takes-all elections. The present essay charts recent examples of legislation trammeling due process and equality rights and interests in both criminal and public law.  It concludes by exploring reform options to reinvigorate parliamentary oversight and deliberation via a proportionally elected upper or lower house.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND MODERN DAY SLAVERY: AN AFFRONT TO HUMAN DIGNITY
Authors: SC Fiona McLeod
Published: August 2024

While most victims are trafficked into Australia from Asia for the purpose of sexual exploitation, there is growing awareness of persons being trafficked here for the purpose of labour exploitation. A major impediment to prosecuting trafficking-related offences is the reluctance of victims to give evidence of the offence, particularly as they (or their families) may have been the subject of violence or threats of violence either in Australia or their country of origin. New legislation passed into law in Australia in 2013 seeks to address the low rate of successful prosecutions. This paper considers the legislative and policy response of Australia, internationally and domestically, to these heinous crimes. It also considers where improvements could be made.
STOPPING THE STALKER: VICTIM RESPONSES TO STALKING An Examination of Victim Responses to Determine Factors Affecting the Intensity and Duration of Stalking
Authors: Goldsworthy Dr Terry , Raj Matthew
Published: August 2024

Victims of stalking are exposed to threatening behaviours over prolonged periods of time and their experiences have been described by them as “emotional or psychological rape”, “psychological terrorism”, and “rape without sex”. Research has shown that the more victimisation a person experiences, the more he or she resorts to a variety of attempts to manage the stalking behaviour. Many methods have attracted criticism, specifically the use of civil injunctions to reduce the risk of violence and continued stalking. This article discusses the phenomenon of stalking, victim responses, and factors that may escalate stalking behaviour. It is posited that duration and intensity of stalking, in addition to the risk and harm to victims, can be reduced by researching the effectiveness of a myriad of proposed responses. This article looks to inform the best practices in the strategic intervention of stalking by distinguishing maladaptive and adaptive victim initiated responses.
THE INSPIRING RAPA NUI NATION'S EFFORTS TO REBUILD ITS GOVERNMENT AND REGAIN CONTROL OF ITS TERRITORY
Authors: Crippa Leonardo A
Published: August 2024

This paper aims to reflect the plight of the Rapa Nui People, the Indigenous people of Easter Island, who seek to fully exercise their right of self-determination. It outlines the relationship between the Rapa Nui Nation and Chile, particularly how both historical and contemporary actions of Chile demonstrate continued imposition of colonial rule onto a non-self-governing territory, leading to subordinate status for the Rapa Nui Nation. This paper covers both the legal acts and policies of Chile that advance concepts aimed at eliminating, assimilating, and intimidating the people of Rapa Nui. These are considered with regard to the UN Charter, and UN Declarations and Resolutions concerning rights of self-determination and obligations of states to cooperate in ending colonialism.
BOOTS, BLANKETS, AND BOMB TESTS: FIRST AUSTRALIAN PETITIONING AND RESISTANCE TO COLONISATION
Authors: O'Brien Dr Karen
Published: August 2024

Petitions are symbolic representations of the unacceptable position of First Australians’ in society. They demonstrate the continuity and persistence of First Australian communities in asserting their rights. This article draws attention to the use of petitioning to question colonisation and colonial history. Rather than an endorsement of colonisation, petitioning presents a preliminary assessment of how petitioners instigated, set in motion, and subsequently effected necessary change for landmark legal decisions. This article proposes an archival study of petitions and related documents to ascertain the true extent of national First Australian political participation. Through petitioning, First Australian peoples not only communicate concerns about their collective future and assert the right to manage their own affairs, they also demonstrate resilience, authority, and agency.
JUDICIAL DECISION-MAKING IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS: "EFFECTIVE" JUSTICE?
Authors: Freeland Steven
Published: August 2024

The past two decades have witnessed the re-emergence of a system of international justice mechanisms, and the “institutionalisation” and “judicialisation” of international criminal justice, principally through the operation of formalised international and hybrid courts and tribunals. This followed a long period of impunity, during which there was virtually no legal accountability for the commission of atrocities and international crimes. After a slow beginning, several of these mechanisms then became active in the implementation of criminal justice against those accused of the most egregious crimes. All of a sudden, judges were required to adjudicate on complex and emotional factual and legal issues, largely without the benefit of significant practical experience. Over time, and particularly more recently, questions have been publically raised — even by judges themselves — as to the validity of several significant decisions. Highly visible controversies have emerged that have highlighted the difficulties in the judicial decision-making processes within these mechanisms of international justice. These challenge perceptions as to the “efficiency” of the justice being handed down. This article will discuss the applicable law used to determine and interpret legal rules in the international criminal arena, and then explore how these are increasingly challenged by both internal and external factors associated with the overarching context of the specific conflicts, and their political and social consequences.
THE LAW AND BOXING: A PARADOX
Authors: Anthony Adele
Published: August 2024

This paper will examine the sport of boxing in the context of Queensland, Australia. An examination of statute and common law shows that people cannot consent to Grievous Bodily Harm or death. Despite this, boxing matches continue to cause Grievous Bodily Harm and death to the boxers, with no consequences imposed for the perpetrator. Therein lies the paradox. There are no statutory exclusions for boxing, yet the Queensland criminal system does not exercise its jurisdiction when these serious injuries occur. Overall, the paper suggests that the detriments of boxing far outweigh the benefits, and as such, the sport should be banned. Alternatively, potential reforms are suggested, which at the very least could reduce the amount of serious injuries that occur as a result of boxing matches.
LET'S TALK ABOUT SLAVES...HUMAN TRAFFICKING: EXPOSING HIDDEN VICTIMS AND CRIMINAL PROFIT AND HOW LAWYERS CAN HELP END A GLOBAL EPIDEMIC
Authors: Gerry QC Felicity
Published: August 2024

Human trafficking is a highly lucrative industry that extends to all corners of the globe. Developed countries have become the destination for those plucked from source countries and people are trafficked within their own states. These are generally the impoverished, the un-empowered, the uneducated and the dispossessed. The urgency with which this issue needs to be tackled nationally and transnationally has recently been fuelled by reports that profits are being used to fund terrorist activity. This makes cooperation between nations and their lawyers imperative; criminal and corporate lawyers can help to end a global slavery epidemic by international cooperation, identifying victims and diverting them out of justice systems, exposing transnational organised crime and by ensuring corporate responsibility.
THE PRICE OF PROTEST IN WEST PAPUA
Authors: Harvey Gemima
Published: August 2024

West Papua is a region fraught with tension, where the Indigenous population is intimidated and repressed to prevent the voicing of political views. This paper examines the price of protest in West Papua, where the struggle for self-determination has been violently stifled by Indonesian security forces for five decades. It aims to expose endemic injustice and abuse, and also to act as a microphone for those who, through non-violent means, risk life and liberty to express their hopes and dreams for a free West Papua.
AUSTRALIAN ALTRUISTIC SURROGACY: STILL A WAY TO GO
Authors: Kunde Rachel
Published: August 2024

This article is a first-person narrative of the author’s lived experience as an altruistic surrogate in Australia. The author highlights the complex and emotional difficulties faced by all parties in surrogacy arrangements to advocate for various legislative reforms. Touching on the phenomenon of international commercial surrogacy and the relevance of ensuring personal autonomy for surrogate mothers, the author ultimately paints a picture of an Australia that can approach surrogacy ethically: respecting the rights of children and the dignity of each individual.
MEXICO’S ENERGY REFORM IN CONFLICT WITH THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS AND AGRARIAN COMMUNITIES
Authors: Eric Jason Wiesner Alejandra Ancheita &
Published: August 2024

Among the grave human rights violations that exist in Mexico, torture and forced disappearances are two of the most serious examples of the atmosphere of generalised violence that pervades the country. The lack of access to justice for the victims and their families has become established in a seemingly endless cycle of impunity. It is in this context that Mexico's agrarian and indigenous communities are experiencing attacks that seriously threaten their community life for generations to come. These attacks come in the form of violations of the right to the free use and enjoyment of their land, territory, and natural resources at the hands of transnational corporations in the absence of protection from the Mexican State. On 20 December 2013, reforms to Articles 25, 27, and 28 of the Mexican Constitution were published in the Official Journal of the Federation (‘OJF’). These reforms authorised the private sector to pursue oil and gas exploration and the generation of electricity within national territory. Subsequently, on 11 August 2014, nine new laws and amendments to another 12 were published in the OJF that directly affect agrarian and indigenous communities’ rights to the free use and enjoyment of their land, territory, and natural resources and to free, prior, and informed consultation. This article seeks to analyse the Mexican State's legal basis for placing the interests of private enterprise above the respect, protection, guarantee, and promotion of collective rights. It will also explore transnational strategies that human rights organisations and affected communities are developing to resist such infringement on their rights by corporate actors.
WHO SPEAKS FOR "WE" SPEAKS NOT FOR "ME" - THE VACCINATION DEBATE
Authors: Holden Stephen S.
Published: August 2024

Vaccinations are widely regarded as one of the great modern medical advances having saved many lives, and many more from disabilities. However, the success of vaccinations has led to a conflict between the utilitarian ethics of the common good versus the deontological ethics of individual rights. Growing vaccine hesitancy and policies designed to force non-vaccinators to vaccinate inflame the debate. The key question examined is whether, in the case of vaccination, there is justification for limiting individual rights to choose as in Australia's "no jab no pay" policy which removes the possibility of conscientious objection. Examined in this way, it is concluded that it probably matters little whether non-vaccinators vaccinate or not. Because of the success of mass vaccination in Australia, the risks of infection and consequent morbidity/mortality are low - as are the risks of an adverse vaccination reaction. Having non-vaccinators vaccinate is likely to provide little gain, herd immunity levels will change very little. The debate distracts efforts from more promising unvaccinated target groups (those lacking access), and more generally, from other more useful public goods. It is concluded that promoting vaccination for the common good is to be encouraged, and so is the option allowing an individual to conscientiously object.
SURROGACY AND DIGNITY: RIGHTS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Authors: Galloway Kate
Published: August 2024

In this Journal, Rachel Kunde shared her experiences as an altruistic surrogate, advocating for greater government support for surrogate mothers. Based on her own experience, her argument suggests that recognising women’s bodily autonomy is a central consideration in liberalising the regulation of surrogacy. Importantly, she argues that surrogacy arrangements need not impair the dignity of the surrogate mother. In particular, her advocacy appears to presuppose reproductive rights both in the intending parents to found a family, and for the surrogate to bear a child. This article responds to Kunde. While celebrating Kunde’s contribution to the discourse through her personal narrative, it takes a broader approach to the question of regulation. This article first addresses the question of rights for each of the intending parents and the surrogate mother, suggesting that even if reproductive rights have some standing at law, they are not of themselves sufficient to justify liberalisation of altruistic surrogacy. Instead, it argues for a relational approach to regulation, looking beyond the individualised rights-based experience to that of national, and indeed global, relationships. Central to this argument is articulating dignity and autonomy as the principal values at stake.
RE-MAKING LAW’S REALITY: AN AVENUE TOWARDS SEXLESS AND GENDERLESS LAW
Authors: Marcantelli Daniel Joseph
Published: August 2024

Gender is all-pervasive. It has been such a readily accepted aspect of humanity that our legal systems — the systems that order our society — take its form and permanence as a given. Although it is deeply interwoven into our system of laws, it is not fundamental to its operation. A system of laws that never depends on sex or gender as its touchstone has considerable advantages, and is not as radical a change in thinking as it might at first seem. The past two decades have shown a tendency towards flexibility and sensitivity in the case law concerning the fluidity of gender and sex, but this has not necessarily been reflected in legislation. This experience suggests that legislative attempts to facilitate such fluidity will fail so long as they depend on rigid categories of identity, and that the path towards a genderless and sexless legal system will be better achieved by way of the flexible approach found in case law.
The Role of the Corporate Mega-Firm
Authors: Krook Joshua
Published: August 2024

This article discusses the role of the corporate mega-firm in shaping the dreams, aspirations, and ambitions of Australian law students. In sum, I argue that students begin law school with clear social and moral convictions and leave as apolitical, passive enforcers of the law, unable to question the legal rules and principles they have been taught. Instead of pursuing careers in social justice and other areas of public advocacy, students are taught to believe that corporate law and corporate work are the only models of success. In the face of an onslaught of corporate messaging, advertising and media, it is difficult for students to retain a sense of their own moral compass. By the end of their degrees, law students often begin to rationalise a newly market-centric outlook on life, resulting in the loss of a new generation of public advocates to corporate positions.
Social Movement Prostitution: A Case Study in Nonhuman Animal Rights Activism and Vegan Pimping
Authors: Wrenn Dr Corey Lee
Published: August 2024

This article explores the sexual objectification of female-identified volunteers in social movements as a form of tactical prostitution. It is argued that tactical prostitution constitutes a violation of the dignity of women in social movement spaces, while also posing a threat to the well-being of women and children in the larger public. This article investigates the Nonhuman Animal rights movement in particular, suggesting that tactical prostitution is particularly counterintuitive in this context as it asks the public to stop objectifying Nonhuman Animals with the same oppressive logic that it wields in objectifying female activists. This critique is placed within a systemic analysis of neoliberalism as it impacts social movements through the formation of a non-profit industrial complex. This system encourages the commodification of marginalized groups for institutional gain.
Experiences, Challenges, and Lessons Learned — Interviewing Rwandan Survivors of Sexual Violence
Authors: Herrmann Judith
Published: August 2024

Research involving survivors of sexual violence requires particular ethical and safety considerations. In this article I outline challenges that I encountered when preparing and conducting interviews with female survivors of sexual violence in Rwanda. My research design was informed by phenomenological and feminist approaches, which assisted in sensitising me to and addressing matters specific to my fieldwork. Besides methodological issues deriving from the role of a qualitative researcher, the challenges included identifying and inviting participants, managing logistics relating to the interviews, researching in another language, building rapport with interview participants, referral to support services, and self-care. In this article, I discuss what I did to overcome these issues, making reference to existing literature and training that helped me in preparing for my fieldwork. Summarising my experiences, I provide a list of key experiences and lessons learned at the end of the article, aiming to help researchers prepare for their work with vulnerable groups. I also highlight a number of ethical issues that I perceived as particularly challenging and suggest that they require further discussion in the future.
Levelling the Playing Field: Discrimination Against Women in Sport in Australia
Authors: Gacka Hazal
Published: August 2024

Historically, female athletes have received minimal recognition and inequitable remuneration in the male-dominated world of sports. Recent developments are promising but a deeper examination of the changes within sports such as the Australian Football League (‘AFL’) and netball demonstrate that these historical issues remain. This article will first outline the relevant legislative and policy background, and the basis of discrimination against women in sport from feminist perspectives. A detailed analysis of two specific and interrelated issues will then be discussed: lower salaries, sponsorship and prize money, and inadequate media coverage. The inaugural AFL Women’s (‘AFLW’) competition marks a significant step forward for women’s sport and will be examined with regards to these particular issues. Finally, recent developments and further recommendations for eliminating discrimination will be outlined, including legislative amendments, targeted policies, and the need for a change in the gendered assumptions that women are somehow inferior to men in sport and in society in general.
The Deserving and The Under-Served: A Comment on the Oversupply of Law Graduates, Diversity in the Legal Profession, and Access to Legal Representation
Authors: Iskander Marie
Published: August 2024

Most law students, graduates and young lawyers have become all too familiar with how dismal the graduate employment market has become for aspiring lawyers – particularly thanks to the non-stop barrage of negative news stories which serve as a recurring reminder of how there is not nearly enough employment positions to cater for the oversupply of law graduates. Due to this oversupply, the idea of using a law degree to ‘pick something else’ by way of a non-legal career has become an increasingly common selling point used by several new and old law schools. Many are now perpetuating the idea that the law degree has become an increasingly generalist degree with transferable skills to other industries and professions, and that it is no longer inevitable that those who undertake a law degree will become lawyers. Despite these law schools’ attempts to comfort prospective law graduates, this marketing rhetoric has done little to assuage law students’ and graduates’ employment concerns. This paper seeks to examine the current oversupply of law graduates, drawing upon survey results received by ALSA as well as other published pieces, which highlight key areas for concern arising from the current market. The paper also seeks to explore the impact (or lack thereof) that the current oversupply of law graduates may be having on issues pertaining to access to justice and access to legal education.
The Private Provision of Essential Financial Services and the Corporate Social Responsibilities of Banks and Insurance Companies
Authors: Wilson Therese
Published: August 2024

Lack of access to both basic credit and basic insurance products have been recognised as two key aspects of financial exclusion in Australia. The neoliberal, or economic liberal, approach to corporate regulation, focusing on profit maximisation, free markets, and limited regulatory intervention, has led to suboptimal social outcomes. This is because of the impacts of financial exclusion, and in this article an argument is made for requiring some profit sacrifice by banking and insurance corporations, to provide basic financial services — as essential services — in accordance with their corporate social responsibilities. The article considers regulatory reform to support such profit sacrifice.
Economic Rights and a Universal Basic Income
Authors: Klein Dr Elise
Published: August 2024

This paper examines the case of a basic income as a way to secure and resecure rights in Australia. The paper argues that the negligence of economic rights has resulted in an increased threat to civil and political rights and highlights a need to secure economic security for all. The article first explores current trends in growing inequality and the persistence of poverty in Australia. Following this, the paper analyses structures within the economic and political systems that are contributing to these trends. The paper then proposes a basic income as part of a way to address structural injustice through presenting basic income as a ‘rightful share’.
Affirmative Action in Piercing the Bamboo Ceiling within the Australian Legal Profession — Utopian Ideal or Dystopian Nightmare?
Authors: Thomas K Abraham
Published: August 2024

This paper considers the phenomenon of the bamboo ceiling and whether affirmative action presents an adequate means of alleviating such deeply entrenched inequalities within the Australian legal profession. It is suggested that “The Medici Effect” presents an adequate means of overcoming the problem of the bamboo ceiling. It is concluded that “The Medici Effect”, bringing together different disciplines and finding their intersections, is a means of generating collaboration and invoking innovation through an influx of ideas bringing about the core notable benefit of “diversity of thought”.
Volume 6 Issue 1 Full Issue
Authors: Law & Human Dignity Griffith Journal of
Published: August 2024

Full Issue
The Revolutionary Potential of Law School
Authors: Wardle Ben
Published: August 2024

This paper highlights the experiences at law school that transformed a self-interested, consumerist with dreams of becoming a corporate lawyer into a critical legal theorist concerned with social justice, sustainability, and Indigenous sovereignty. While the paper tells the story of one person’s experiences at law school it arguably highlights some key barriers to critical thought and an array of teaching methods and course content within single law courses and across the law program that can bring about radical shifts in consciousness.
Homelessness and Public Space Offences in Australia – A Human Rights Orientated Case for Narrow Interpretation
Authors: Murphy Julian
Published: August 2024

Australia continues to enforce laws that have the effect of criminalizing homelessness, even in the face of sharp rebukes from the United Nations. One category of such laws can be described as “public space offences”; these are laws that criminalize otherwise lawful activity on the basis that it is done in a public place. Unsurprisingly, homeless people living in public spaces are particularly vulnerable to prosecution under these laws. In this article I argue that, when understood against the backdrop of international human rights law, public spaces offences in Australia should be construed narrowly so as not to criminalize conduct that is an incident of homelessness.
Reply to Andrew Dyer's response
Authors: Kerr Anna
Published: August 2024

This paper is not subject to peer-review and is the final instalment of this Right to Reply series, published in this issue.
AUSTRALIA’S ABANDONMENT OF THE INNOCENT: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE LONG-TERM SUPPORT OF THE WRONGFULLY CONVICTED
Authors: Ensinger Laura Elizabeth
Published: August 2024

This article discusses some of the key issues surrounding Australia’s current approach to supporting victims of wrongful conviction. It outlines the short fallings of current avenues of support available for victims in Australia after exoneration. The article advocates for several recommendations to address the current short failings of support services available to victims of wrongful conviction in Australia.
The Indignity Of Abstraction: Datamining and Autonomy in the Age of Direct to Consumer Genomics
Authors: Arnold Bruce , Bonython Wendy
Published: August 2024

Direct To Consumer Genomics services such as 23AndMe and Ancestry.com promise to foster medical research and deepen personal connection through sharing information about the human genome. This article contextualises those promises by asking questions about dignity. The services and the legal frameworks in which they operate are predicated on abstracting people as sets of genetic data. The commonality of that data among biological relatives means that individuals who gift a service with data about themselves are disregarding the autonomy of relatives who might not want to be genetically datamined. Law about such genomics should acknowledge Kant’s wariness about abstracting people as a means to an end.
Dignity and Culture in Dispute Resolution
Authors: Ojelabi Lola Akin
Published: August 2024

This paper adopts a definition of human dignity that highlights the importance of recognition and respect. These two concepts are important in dispute resolution processes particularly where cultural differences exist between parties or between a party and the third-party decision-maker or dispute resolution practitioner. Although cultural differences are not in themselves causes of conflict and should indeed be celebrated, because culture and identity are intricately linked, cultural differences negatively influence disputes and lead to intractability. Cultural differences may also affect a dispute resolution process and its outcome particularly in relation to parties' engagement in, and perception of, the process. To prevent negative implications of cultural differences, dignity in form of respect and recognition is important. These two concepts may also form the basis of procedural justice which when present, enhances satisfaction in a decision-making process by giving effect to voice. This paper explores how cultural differences may diminish voice quality and how respect and recognition may lead to empowerment thus improving the quality of voice and in turn, both process and outcome. It discusses the elements of respect and recognition steps that may be taken by third-parties to accord dignity to parties.
The Quest for Justice in a Time of Global Uncertainty
Authors: McLeod Fiona
Published: August 2024

This paper draws upon two recent papers delivered by the author — ‘David Solomon Lecture: Accountability in the Age of the Artificial August 2019’, Brisbane; and the keynote presentation to the Australian Lawyers Alliance Conference ‘A Quest for Justice, Evolution or Catastrophe October 2019’, Port Douglas.
Enhancing Forensic Audio: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why
Authors: Fraser Helen
Published: August 2024

'Enhancing' has become a routine part of preparing indistinct covert recordings for admission as evidence in criminal trials. Typically, evaluation of its effectiveness is seen as a simple matter of listening to determine whether the enhancement sounds ‘clearer’ than the original. This seems like a straightforward approach, but it brushes over many important issues which can adversely affect the fairness of the trial. This article outlines findings from experiments, case studies and scientific literature to show how enhancing can affect perception in surprising and unpredictable ways, without listeners’ conscious awareness. Discussion demonstrates that enhancing exacerbates, rather than mitigates, known risks of the jury being misled by an unreliable transcript. The conclusion indicates the direction in which to seek better procedures.
The Practice of Solitary Confinement of Children in Juvenile Detention in Victoria: A Human-Rights Based Argument for Prohibition
Authors: Mackay Anita , Naleemudeen Mohamed A
Published: August 2024

In 2017, Victoria’s practices surrounding the solitary confinement of detained children were found by the Supreme Court to have breached the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) – including the right to be treated with ‘humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person’ when deprived of liberty.  This was in the context of children aged between 15 and 18 years of age being held in a precinct of the Barwon maximum security adult prison from November 2016.  This article contextualises the Supreme Court’s findings by outlining the problematic use of solitary confinement of children in juvenile detention in Victoria in the years preceding the judgment (since 2010) and following.  Numerous investigative reports have raised concerns about solitary confinement, which is extremely detrimental to children.  Through the findings of investigative reports, this article demonstrates that the use of solitary confinement in Victoria violates Australia’s international human rights law obligations. It argues that, consequently, the practice should be prohibited – consistent with the 2015 recommendation by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Julian Assange, David Hicks and Whether Citizens Have Rights to Diplomatic Protection
Authors: Head Michael
Published: August 2024

This article examines insufficiently explored questions about whether a citizen has the right to seek diplomatic protection from the Australian government and to have that application determined lawfully. It does so primarily by considering the possible precedent set more than a decade go by the David Hicks case and whether Julian Assange may have been unlawfully denied diplomatic protection.Australian governments have declined to intervene with the British and United States authorities to protect Assange, an Australian citizen, from being extradited to the United States on charges under the Espionage Act 1917 (US). This is despite evidence that his human rights are being violated. In particular, two United Nations bodies have ruled his detention to be arbitrary and amounting to psychological torture. Moreover, there appear to be defects in the legal proceedings, including violations of lawyer-client confidentiality.These facts could bring Assange’s case within the precedent set by the Hicks case, which decided that the government had a duty to consider an application by an Australian detained in the US military facility at Guatanamo Bay for diplomatic intervention if his human rights were being violated ‘clearly’, and to consider that application lawfully, that is, without irrelevant considerations or improper purpose.
Indigenous Equality: The Long Road
Authors: McIntyre Greg
Published: August 2024

This essay identifies some of incremental progress towards substantive racial equality in Australia for First Nations Peoples observed in the course of a legal practice extending over the past 44 years, affected by cases brought before the courts, particularly the case of Mabo v Queensland. It discusses the impact on that progress of legislation, particularly the Native Title Act. It concludes that recognition of the fiduciary duty of the Government towards its First Nations Peoples may be a necessary prerequisite to according them self determination and equality within the Australian nation.
Prisoner Isolation and COVID-19 in Queensland
Authors: Blaber Helen , Walsh Tamara , Cornwell Lucy
Published: August 2024

‘Medical segregation’ is being used extensively to limit the possibility of infection and spread of COVID-19. However, there is a real risk that medical segregation may amount to ‘de facto solitary confinement.’ Research around the world has demonstrated that placing prisoners in solitary confinement, even for short periods of time, can cause serious psychological harm which may be irreversible. It is also a serious encroachment on prisoners’ human rights. Queensland’s Human Rights Act has recently come into effect and this has legal implications for COVID-related responses in correctional settings. We argue here that the incursions on prisoners’ human rights that have occurred in Queensland during COVID have, at times, been disproportionate to the risks posed.
Good Fences Make Good (Space) Neighbours
Authors: Stephens Dale , Blake Lachlan
Published: August 2024

Humanity has reached a critical point in its history.  Technological advancements herald a great renaissance for humanity’s reach to the stars.  States and private companies plan commercial and other activities in space and upon celestial bodies, demonstrating that humankind can become an inter-planetary species. Such planning occurs in accordance with the prevailing space law regime and, notwithstanding the undeniable ambition of the planners, it is evident this space law regime does have gaps and ambiguities that must be addressed before these endeavours can be meaningfully fulfilled. This article examines the legal regime encapsulated by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (‘OST’) (ratified by all major space-faring nations) and explores ways in which specific OST provisions can give rise to temporary proprietary and jurisdictional rights, which can be used to avoid future conflict in space. The authors contend that these provisions provide rights of control to States so as to manage ‘facilities’, to exercise jurisdiction and to observe rights of ‘due regard’ that in turn establish basic legal boundaries.  Such boundaries, it is argued, permit confidence and certainty in the conduct of commercial and other activities upon celestial bodies, enabling competing States and companies to delimit areas in which they conduct their operations. Additionally, the article examines the capacity of military forces to operate on these celestial bodies so as to undertake a peacekeeping type role consistently with the provisions of the OST.  Such a function is argued to be necessary, given the unique attribution mechanism of the OST that can give public legal significance to the acts of private companies. It is an underlying theme of this article that respecting legal boundaries on the Moon and other celestial bodies while engaging in commercial activity can create good neighbours which in turn can underpin a peaceful, stable and cooperative space environment.
Parents...Next: The Ongoing Neoliberalising of Australian Social Security
Authors: Hamer Lydia , Tranter Kieran
Published: August 2024

Over the last three decades, social security reform in Australia has increasingly moved to a model of welfare conditionality. A neoliberal agenda has led to Australian social security changing from a model of universal entitlement to mutual obligations. This has led to criticisms that Australian social security increasingly blames and penalises recipients for their economic marginalisation while deemphasising structural barriers obstructing labour market participation. ParentsNext, a compulsory pre-employment program for select Parenting Payment recipients, continues this trajectory. This article argues that ParentsNext has had, and will continue to have, a detrimental impact on recipients. The program through outsourcing, use of the Targeted Compliance Framework to penalise non-compliance and the program’s one-size-fits-all approach continues the neoliberalist agenda in Australian social security. Women with young children are ‘next.’ This article concludes that ParentsNext true purpose is ideological. Its actual effect is to punish and harm vulnerable women and children by subjecting them to the whims of private providers and the data producing requirements of the social security machine without any substantive attempt to overcome structure barriers to achieving economic security.
Transformative Capacity Building Around the Right to A Healthy Environment: What Role for 'Dignity' as a Human Rights Value?
Authors: Webster Elaine , Morgera Elisa
Published: August 2024

For decades, scholars have explored the potential merits and risks of a formal, self-standing human right to a healthy environment. While some have advocated this right in a way that may be perceived as too ‘thin’ to connect to local experiences, others have critiqued it in a way that may be perceived as too disconnected from the benefits of human rights processes. This article discusses ongoing experiences in Scotland, where a new national human rights framework is being developed. Drawing on this experience, we highlight methods of capacity building as a different channel for thinking about the potential merits of new articulations of a right to a healthy environment, and for developing understandings of this right’s substance applied to specific contexts. Specifically, we reflect on the potential role of the foundational human rights value of respect for dignity as an anchor in capacity building around the right to a healthy environment. We explore an idea of capacity building which facilitates local-level ownership over international human rights law and underpinning values and is focused on implementation. We suggest that this kind of ethos as part of mutual learning and alliance building should be further explored as a means of creating lasting, positive engagement with a rights-based perspective on environmental protection.
Australia, Covid-19, and the India Travel Ban
Authors: Simic Olivera
Published: August 2024

As of 20 March 2020, the Australian Government closed the country’s international borders and enforced a ban on overseas travel to and from the country. The citizens of Australia have become the only citizens among democratic nations who cannot leave the country unless they receive an exemption from the Department of Home Affairs. Australia’s ban on travel has been among the strictest in the world. On 30 April 2021, the Morrison Government moved to threaten Australians trying to return home from the then COVID-19-ravaged India with fines and jail time. This was the first time in its history that Australia banned its own citizens from returning to their homeland, to the point of enacting criminal sanctions for those who attempted to do so. In this paper, I look at how extraordinary measures stipulated in the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) have affected Australian citizens’ human rights and freedoms. I use the India travel ban as a case study in this paper. The paper argues the unprecedented move to ban all flights to and from India by the federal overnment was disproportionate, unnecessary, and life threatening for stranded citizens. I draw on media, human rights reports, and available data to analyse how the biosecurity laws were arguably enforced with little or no regard for fundamental human rights, including the right to life and healthcare. This decision ultimately resulted in the deaths of overseas citizens from COVID-19, who were banned from returning to their own homeland.
Power and Corruption Risk: A Brief History and a Long Future
Authors: Sampford Charles
Published: August 2024

This article commences with definitions of corruption and integrity and relates them to each other and to power, its use and abuse. It then discusses how, as power evolves and grows, the opportunities for the abuse of that power to (i.e., corruption) grow too. Those opportunities deliver a history of corruption from ancient abuses of priestly, gubernatorial, and military power to modern state capture. The creation of power provides opportunities for abuse and the risk that those opportunities will be exploited in all countries, including Australia. Anti-corruption measures provide a form of insurance against that risk. The paper examines the development of anti-corruption measures from the execution of those caught out, to anti-corruption agencies, to national integrity systems, and to international collaboration to develop such systems. However, those who pursue power to abuse it for their own ends do not stand still. They collaborate in ‘national corruption systems’ and emerging global corruption systems. The paper argues that the remedy lies in the development of global integrity systems while strengthening our own integrity systems to build integrity and combat corruption at home and contribute to those goals abroad. The article concludes with a glossary of governance terms and relates them to integrity and corruption.
Application of Decision Support in Performance Assessment of Delivery Services in the E-Commerce Industry
Authors: Kraugusteeliana Kraugusteeliana , Violin Vivid
Published: August 2024

The e-commerce industry is experiencing rapid growth along with increasing consumer demand for fast, precise and reliable delivery services. Assessing the performance of goods delivery services is very important to ensure customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. This research aims to develop a decision support model to assess the performance of goods delivery services in the e-commerce industry using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The AHP method was chosen because of its ability to resolve conflicting criteria through a pairwise comparison matrix and decompose problems, criteria and alternatives into a decision hierarchy. In this research there are 5 assessment criteria, namely Price (C1), Goods Packaging (C2), Goods Delivery C3), Service (C4), and Number of Branches (C5). Source of data from respondents obtained using questionnaire techniques. The research results show the final ranking of 4 alternative delivery services. From these results it can be explained that the highest criteria weight value in criterion C1 can influence the ranking results, because the AHP method is a criteria weighting method that takes into account criteria through a pairwise comparison matrix.