The Teaching of Criminal Law The pedagogical imperatives

1. Introduction

Kris Gledhill and Ben Livings

2. Building Block or Stumbling Block? Teaching Actus Reus and Mens Rea in Criminal Law

Fiona Donson and Catherine O’Sullivan

3. Teaching the Elements of Crimes

John Child

4. Enhancing Interactivity in the Teaching of Criminal Law: Using Response Technology in the Lecture Theatre

Kevin J Brown and Colin RG Murray

5. Using Problem-Based Learning to Enhance the Study of Criminal Law

Ben Fitzpatrick

6. Turning Criminal Law Upside Down

Jo Boylan-Kemp and Rebecca Huxley-Binns

7. Criminal Law Pedagogy and the Australian State Codes

Thomas Crofts and Stella Tarrant

8. Teaching Criminal Law as Statutory Interpretation

Jeremy Gans

9. Shaking the Foundations: Criminal Law as a Means of Critiquing the Assumptions of the Centrality of Doctrine in Law

Alex Steel

10. The Challenges and Benefits of Integrating Criminal Law, Litigation and Evidence

Adam Jackson and Kevin Kerrigan

11. ‘Crime and the Criminal Process’: Challenging Traditions, Breaking Boundaries

Phil Scraton and John Stannard

12. Context and Connection

Ben Livings

13. Teaching and Learning Criminal Law ‘in Context’: Taking ‘Context’ Seriously

Arlie Loughnan

14. Teaching Indigenous and Minority Students and Perspectives in Criminal Law

Khylee Quince

15. Introducing Feminist Legal Jurisprudence through the Teaching of Criminal Law

Julia Tolmie

16. Choice

Kris Gledhill

17. The Absence of Regulatory Crime from the Criminal Law Curriculum

Shane Kilcommins, Susan Leahy and Eimear Spain

18. Conclusion: Looking to the future 

Kris Gledhill and Ben Livings

Biography

Kris Gledhill is Associate Professor at AUT Law School, Auckland, New Zealand.

Ben Livings is Senior Lecturer at the Law School of the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia.

'We can lament the lingering influence of ‘old school’ doctrine-focused criminal law teaching or we can articulate better ways to teach and study criminal law. The contributors to this fine collection are to be congratulated for taking the latter more constructive path. Developing curricula that extend beyond the traditional ‘general principles + homicide + theft’ formula, refusing to artificially extract criminal law rules from the practical and procedures by which they are operationalised, taking historical, cultural, political, economic and other contextual factors seriously, valuing Indigenous and feminist perspectives and insights, employing problem-based learning – it is heartening to read that these and other exciting approaches are well on the way to becoming the ‘new normal’ in criminal law teaching.'

Luke McNamara, Professor, Faculty of Law, UNSW & co-author of D Brown et al, Criminal Laws: Materials and Commentary on Criminal Law and Process of New South Wales (Federation Press, 6th ed, 2015)

"Gledhill and Livings’ collection provides criminal law teachers with a uniquely useful resource to aid pedagogical self-reflection and future conversations with various stakeholders. It serves as an important catalyst to take the legal pedagogy agenda forward."

Daniel Pascoe, 'Criminal Law Pedagogy', Legal Quarterly Vol. 72 No. 2 (2021) 406–410, DOI: 10.53386/nilq.v72i2.729

"This publication is a useful, timely, innovative, and aspirational contribution to a small body of literature on subject-specific teaching and learning methods used in law schools. It is a worthwhile addition to any criminal law library and serves as a catalogue of new ideas and useful reminders for anyone involved in the teaching of criminal law. The many diverse and well-developed chapters of this book offer great insight into the ways in which criminal law is, has been, and ought to be taught at university."

Andreas Schloenhardt, Professor of Criminal law, The University of Queensland, Australia.