E LAW | Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law - Copyright Policy
Review of Butterworths Tutorial Series: Criminal Law by Jonathan Clough and Carmel Mulhern
Having used the Butterworths Tutorial Series in the past for other law subjects, I was curious to see whether the Criminal Law edition would live up to the excellence of the others in the series. At the outset, I am pleased to say it is.
However, it must be stressed that this text is purely what the title suggests - a tutorial styled book overviewing criminal law topics relevant to the tertiary level student. It is by no means nor was it intended to be a professional practice manual. With regards to the law student, although this book is an effective introduction to Australian criminal law, it must be supplemented with more in depth texts. The authors obviously appreciate this by listing several books related to this subject on the back of the text.
The first notable feature of this book is that it covers all Australian criminal law jurisdictions. The beauty of this is that not only is it suitable for Australian law students as a whole, but it provides a useful and concise comparative guide for those interested in or needing to know the criminal law in other states. This is also beneficial to the student as it enables them to examine where certain criminal law concepts or definitions differ to those in their jurisdiction, thus providing an overall concise picture of Australian criminal law.
This edition of the book is currently up to date, including discussion on the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995, which will become operative in the year 2000. Naturally, as this Code is implemented in Australian Law, future editions of this book will no doubt update any relevant law regarding this.
What is appealing in this book is the fact that it starts with the absolute basics of criminal law. It not only provides definitions of criminal law but also provides a step by step process of factors that must be satisfied for a crime to have been enacted. With this in mind, the book therefore is not only useful for law students. It would also be beneficial to those involved in law enforcement such as the police or anyone not legally trained but somehow involved with criminal law and generally wanting further clarification on criminal concepts. The clarity and structure is such that I truly believe a layperson could gain an understanding of criminal law simply by reading this book.
Of particular benefit to law students is the fact that each chapter states a legal problem, complimented with a suggested solution. This not only provides the student with an indication as to whether they are proceeding in the right direction with the identification of legal principles, but it further provides a guide as to the way in which an answer to a criminal law problem should be written. This of course is useful to those wanting to write well in their exams.
Something unique to this book is that it could be said to be a book of 'criminal law hints and tips'. What is meant by this is that the book provides practical tips for students to keep in mind for legal practice. One example stated in the book regards the theft of intangible goods. Any document representing ownership of that property being stolen is enough to satisfy the fact that the theft occurred. These hints and tips are not only useful in legal practice. They may mean the difference in a grade for the conscientious law student!
The use of diagrams to breakdown a concept for ease of understanding are excellent teaching tools. Unfortunately, I only saw one such diagram in this book. It would be effective if in summarising each chapter, some type of diagram explaining the steps in a crime was shown. Not only does this add further clarification to a legal concept, but it also assists in memory. When diagrams are used as teaching tools they are retained in the memory far better than words. I think the Tutorial Series books would be the most appropriate place for such diagrams.
If I was to criticise this book in any way, the only thing I feel it could have expanded on would be criminal procedure. One paragraph in the book expressly states that criminal procedure would not be covered. I truly believe a further chapter outlining criminal procedure would have been appropriate and beneficial to this book, as it would make a compact all in one learning tool. Having said this, perhaps I have provided inspiration for a would-be author of future Tutorial Series books looking for a subject to write on!
Overall I am satisfied with the content of this book. I recommend it to any student of criminal law and my compliments go to the authors for a job well done.
