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Evidence Of Intoxication In Australian Criminal Courts: A Complex Variable With Multiple Effects, Luke J. Mcnamara, Julia Quilter, Kate Seear, Robin Room

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

This article reports on the second stage of a national study of how the effects of alcohol and other drugs are treated by criminal laws and the criminal justice system. Based on a mixed methods analysis of more than 300 appellate court decisions from all Australian jurisdictions handed down in the period 2010-2014, we identify the multiple points at which legal significance is attached to evidence that the accused, the victim or a witness was 'intoxicated' at the time of the alleged commission of a criminal offence. Focusing on the rules and principles endorsed by appellate courts in relation to …