Priestley 11 · Usually first year
Criminal Law and Procedure for Australian law students
Criminal Law is where most Australian law students learn what an element of an offence is, and it is usually the first subject where a problem question is worth a serious share of the mark. The complication nobody warns you about in week one is that Australia runs two systems: the Code states and the common law states, and the answer to the same fact scenario can turn on which one you are sitting in.
What the subject covers
- Actus reus, mens rea, and the elements of an offence
- Homicide and non-fatal offences against the person
- Property offences, including theft and fraud
- Defences: self-defence, duress, necessity, mental impairment, intoxication
- The criminal process from charge through to sentence
- The difference between the Code jurisdictions and the common law jurisdictions
Topic coverage varies between law schools and between jurisdictions. Your subject guide is the one that counts.
Cases you will meet in an Australian Criminal Law and Procedure course
Three decisions that turn up in Criminal Law and Procedure across Australian law schools. Some of them are English decisions that Australian courses still teach as core authority, so this is a list of what you will be taught rather than a list of Australian judgments. Treat it as a starting point rather than a reading list. Your course sets its own, and it is the one that counts.
He Kaw Teh v The Queen
(1985) 157 CLR 523
The presumption that mens rea is an element of a statutory offence, and what it takes to displace it.
Zecevic v Director of Public Prosecutions (Vic)
(1987) 162 CLR 645
The common law formulation of self-defence.
Woolmington v Director of Public Prosecutions
[1935] AC 462
The golden thread. The prosecution carries the burden of proving guilt.
How the subject is assessed
Expect a problem question on a fact scenario in the second half of semester, answered in IRAC or one of its variants, and a final exam that is usually open book. Markers want the elements identified in order and applied to the facts, with authority attached to each one.
Using CaseSharp for Criminal
Problem questions
Work through the elements one at a time and check the authority behind each, including whether a later court has narrowed it. Sharp answers with the authorities attached, and every citation opens the judgment at the paragraph.
Case notes
First-semester case notes are usually on a single appellate decision. A brief gives you material facts, issue, rule, application and what was held, each linked back to its paragraph, so you can see the structure before you write your own.
AGLC4 essays
Criminal essays cite a lot of legislation alongside the cases, and section pinpoints are where marks quietly disappear. The generator returns full form and short form, and flags a reference for manual review rather than guessing at it.
Exam scaffolds
Build a scaffold per offence and per defence, then check the citing cases for each authority before the exam, so you catch anything a later court has moved since week 4.
CaseSharp is a research and study tool. It does not write your problem question answer or your research essay. Every substantive output carries a human-review notice, and where there is no authority to support an answer, Sharp says so instead of inventing a case to fill the gap.
Try it on a Criminal question
Create a free account and run a Criminal query like the one below, so you can see what comes back before you decide anything.
self-defence Zecevic
73,000 audited Australian decisions, current to the end of April 2026.