Papers by Terry Hutchinson
QUT Law Review, Dec 1, 1989
ABSTRACT Legal research should be taught as a process. Very few academics or law librarians would... more ABSTRACT Legal research should be taught as a process. Very few academics or law librarians would argue with that statement since the debates raged in the United States in the late 80's.[1] However, have the legal research texts that we use to teach our law students kept up with the current ideology? Indeed, what is the current legal research teaching ideology in Australia? Simplistically, it could be said that legal research courses in Australian law schools are predominantly research skills based. In the US, the pendulum has swung the other way, and the courses tend to be legal writing based.[2] Some Australian law schools have championed legal reasoning as a means of acknowledging the depth of process in the equation. But what of legal writing? Isn't this the lawyer's ultimate goal - the closure, the end of the research process? Law librarians can sometimes stop at the 'information located and supplied' stage. Lawyers (and law students) need to be able to actively read the materials, link and extrapolate, analogise and deduce and then they have to communicate it to someone else. Often, they have to write their conclusions down in an assignment, a memo, a letter - or an exam. This is but one view. However, in reviewing the existing legal research texts, we are necessarily approaching the task with personal views about research skills training. We are also approaching the task with our own world views. This viewpoint encompasses a healthy critique of the whole 'objective' process of the law, and doctrinal methodology as the 'only' way of doing things. The current batch of texts seems to proceed totally within a doctrinal framework. We need to acknowledge that framework, while not necessarily agreeing with it. Working within that framework, and taking into account accepted criteria, we can offer various perspectives on the current range of excellent texts available.
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Jul 29, 2016
Legal training focuses on the study of the nature of legal rules using ‘legal reasoning’. This em... more Legal training focuses on the study of the nature of legal rules using ‘legal reasoning’. This emphasis on rules has the potential to obscure the importance of facts in the determination of the law. Judges use general facts about the world in developing and interpreting the law in addition to the facts they use that are specific to the dispute between the parties. Practicing lawyers present versions of the facts as truth in arguing their client’s case in court. Facts about society also provide an evidence base for lawmakers to formulate policy and draft new laws and rules. ‘Evidence-based’ practice is used widely in the fields of medicine and business. This chapter describes evidence-based practice. It argues that facts about society gleaned from social research form a legitimate evidence base that is important for legislative reform. An evidence-based approach seems an obvious step in formulating effective laws and providing legal solutions to social problems. Common sense suggests that the existing social evidence base should be used to assist legislators in developing and ensuring well-founded public policies leading to sound legislation. However, in law reform, the evidence base is often overshadowed by populist perceptions and political ideology. A recent legislative amendment to youth justice sentencing options provides a pertinent case study where the evidence base was largely disregarded.
Criminal Law Journal, 2006
If you are 17 years old in Queensland you are treated as an adult by the criminal justice system.... more If you are 17 years old in Queensland you are treated as an adult by the criminal justice system. Queensland is now the only state in Australia where this happens. In the Second Reading speech of the new Juvenile Justice Act 1992, the then Queensland Minister for Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs Mrs Anne Warner stated: 'It is the intention of this Government … to deal with 17-year-old children within the juvenile, rather than the adult, justice system, as per the 1988 Kennedy report into prisons. This is consistent with the age of majority and avoids such children being exposed to the effects of adults in prisons, thereby increasing their chances of remaining in the system and becoming recidivists. This change will occur at an appropriate time in the future.' 1
Young people in detention (10–17) are routinely appearing in court via video link. There is littl... more Young people in detention (10–17) are routinely appearing in court via video link. There is little research on the use of video-link technology for court appearances for this age group. This project maps current practice through systematic courtroom observations, backed up by interviews with judges, lawyers, police, court personnel and others involved in the youth justice system. It identifies strategies to improve current video-link processes and changes to protocols needed to minimise the risk of adverse outcomes for the children appearing via this technology.
ABSTRACT Detailed surveys of legal research practice and training in Australia had not been under... more ABSTRACT Detailed surveys of legal research practice and training in Australia had not been undertaken previously and the reports provided grounds for further research. This paper firstly reviews the developments taking place within higher education as reflected in the various government reports. It then outlines the relevant literature on literacy competency within information sciences. Also pertinent is the law schools' response to doctrinal research skills training. Previous surveys of legal research teaching in Australia are summarised. The paper then examines the outcomes of the 2002 survey and makes some conclusions and recommendations based on the analysis of results taking into account the challenges identified for the tertiary education sector in Australia.
Alternative Law Journal, Jun 1, 2007
The Queensland criminal justice system has come under the international spotlight in relation to ... more The Queensland criminal justice system has come under the international spotlight in relation to its policy on the treatment of 17 years old offenders. In Queensland, if you are a young offender, you are treated as an adult at 17. Queensland is now the only state in Australia where this occurs. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in its latest Observations has voiced specific concerns in relation to this aberration. In its Concluding Observations on the latest Australian report, the Committee recommended that all 'necessary measures' be taken 'to ensure that persons under 18 who are in conflict with the law are only deprived of liberty as a last resort and detained separately from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so' and specifically that in Queensland 'children who are 17 years old' are removed from 'the adult justice system'. Queensland is totally 'out of step' with national and international standards, and yes, it does matter.
Deakin Law Review, Dec 30, 2014
In 2013 the newly elected conservative Liberal National Party government instigated amendments to... more In 2013 the newly elected conservative Liberal National Party government instigated amendments to the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld). Boot camps replaced court ordered youth justice conferencing. In 2014 there were more drastic changes, including opening the Children's Court proceedings to the public, permitting publication of identifying information of repeat offenders, removing the principle of 'detention as a last resort', facilitating prompt transferral of 17 year olds to adult prisons and instigating new bail offences and mandatory boot camp orders for recidivist motor vehicle offenders in Townsville. This article compares these amendments to the legislative frameworks in other jurisdictions and current social research. It argues that these amendments are out of step with national and international best practice benchmarks for youth justice. Early indications are that Indigenous children are now experiencing increased rates of unsentenced remand. The article argues that the government's policy initiatives are resulting in negative outcomes and that early and extensive evaluations of these changes are essential. I INTRODUCTION As I said, we had a clear strategy. The first phase was to make the fun stop in detention centres by getting rid of the bucking bulls, the jumping castles and Xboxes, which we did. Jarrod Bleijie (Attorney General Queensland) 1 In 2013 the newly elected conservative Liberal National Party government of Queensland instigated amendments to the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld). 2 Boot  Associate Professor, QUT Faculty of Law. Marika Chang was the research assistant for this article.
This chapter examines the doctrinal methodology which many lawyers consider best typifies a disti... more This chapter examines the doctrinal methodology which many lawyers consider best typifies a distinctly legal approach to research. Legal research skills have been identified as a core skill for lawyers, and within the profession, such skills are regarded as synonymous with the doctrinal research method. Good legal research skills are a necessary step in attaining the ability to ‘think like a lawyer’ and achieving valid legal reasoning outcomes. For lawyers, therefore, the doctrinal method is an intuitive aspect of legal work. Yet as this chapter demonstrates, the doctrinal methodology is not without its detractors. There have been serious criticisms of the method put forward by exponents of the various critical legal theories, as well as a perception in some academic circles that the doctrinal research method is nothing more than mere ‘scholarship’ and as a result less compelling or respected than the research methods used by those in the sciences and social sciences. Despite these attacks, and the incursions on the method posed by the growth in the use of non-doctrinal and interdisciplinary research work by lawyers, the argument put forward in this chapter is that the doctrinal method still necessarily forms the basis for most, if not all, legal research projects.
The Law Teacher, 2004
ABSTRACT SUPERVISION OF research papers can be a time consuming and exhausting teaching process. ... more ABSTRACT SUPERVISION OF research papers can be a time consuming and exhausting teaching process. This paper outlines and critiques a web-based teaching and learning initiative formulated for the use of research students in an Australian law school. The project was designed to extend the research capabifities of those students who had completed the three undergraduate levels of legal research skills required in the Queensland University of Technology law degree. The project was developed for those students enrolled in self-directed academic research units and sought to enhance their learning experiences in research project management and deepen their engagement with their literature by encouraging critical thinking and facilitating reflection. This paper provides the theoretical and actual learning contexts for this project, and backgrounds the interlinking themes of graduate capabilities, on-line and flexible teaching, completion strategies and supervisory relationships. It details the methodology, describes the tools and evaluates the outcomes.
Erasmus law review, 2016
The doctrinal methodology is in a period of change and transition. Realising that the scope of th... more The doctrinal methodology is in a period of change and transition. Realising that the scope of the doctrinal method is too constricting, academic lawyers are becoming eclectic in their use of research method. In this transitional time, legal scholars are increasingly infusing evidence (and methods) from other disciplines into their reasoning to bolster their reform recommendations. This article considers three examples of the interplay of the discipline of law with other disciplines in the pursuit of law reform. Firstly the article reviews studies on the extent of methodologies and reformist frameworks in PhD research in Australia. Secondly it analyses a 'snapshot' of recently published Australian journal articles on criminal law reform. Thirdly, it focuses on the law reform commissions, those independent government committees that play such an important role in law reform in common law jurisdictions. This examination demonstrates that while the doctrinal core of legal scholarship remains intact, legal scholars are endeavouring to accommodate statistics, comparative perspectives, social science evidence and methods, and theoretical analysis, within the legal research framework, in order to provide additional ballast to the recommendations for reform.
Legal education review, 2002
The new teaching environment features flexible delivery, heavy use of technology, increased infus... more The new teaching environment features flexible delivery, heavy use of technology, increased infusion of skills into the curriculum, large class sizes and overall, an increasing sophistication of the higher education teaching environment. Even in this environment, Erica McWilliams' "teaching tech(no)body", 1 the virtual instructor, needs some of the old-fashioned teaching skills so necessary for rounded delivery of knowledge and skills to the students. This article examines training needs and options for legal academics and points to effective ways of engendering excellence. The article argues that voluntary teaching improvement rather than accreditation is the more valuable. However, any up-skilling schemes should not become an institutional or personal barrier to personal diversity in teaching style in the university, and especially in the Law School. THE CONTEXT OF LEGAL EDUCATION All academics have traditionally treasured their intellectual freedom. This group has always quite rightly viewed any infringement with concern. However, reality suggests there has been a mammoth change in many aspects of university teaching culture. These changes include firstly, an infusion of skills into the university curriculum. Law schools have always aimed to engender lawyering skills such as legal analysis and legal research into their Hutchinson and Hannah: Training Needs for Law Teachers
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Nov 1, 2004
Alternative Law Journal, Jun 1, 2011
Alternative Law Journal, Dec 1, 2013
The Liberal National Party ('LNP') 'tough on youth crime' policy mantra was well ... more The Liberal National Party ('LNP') 'tough on youth crime' policy mantra was well publicised in the months leading up to the 2012 Queensland state election. Boot camp trials were espoused as a quick-fix panacea - a way of addressing youth offending. The idea was particularly favoured in the far northern regions of the state. In line with the new government's policy, the Youth Justice (Boot Camp Orders) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 (Qld) ('the Bill') had a speedy passage through the unicameral Queensland parliament. It was introduced on 1 November 2012, scrutinised by the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee ('LACSC') which sought community feedback, and reported back to Parliament within the given timeframe of three weeks. The Bill received assent early December and the provisions commenced in January 2013.
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Papers by Terry Hutchinson