About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

24 Alternative L.J. 12 (1999)
Model Laws or Missed Opportunity

handle is hein.journals/alterlj24 and id is 14 raw text is: Model Laws or Missed Opportunity? Rosetnary Hunter and hilie Stubbs In recent proposals for domestic violence law reform a focus on technical rules rather than the broader context means the chance for best practice laws has been missed. Rosemary iHnter is a researcher at the Justice Researrh Centre, Law Foundation of NSW Julie Stubbs teaches crininology in the Faculty ofLaw Uni- versity of Sydney. A Discussion Paper on domestic violence law reform, arising from the Model Criminal Code project of the Commonwealth Government, was released in November 1997.I The Discussion Paper deals almost exclu- sively with issues concerning protection orders. Other areas of criminal law (or family law)' of relevance in the context of domestic violence are not dealt with.' This article provides a critical analysis of key issues canvassed by the Discussion Paper with reference to Australian and in- ternational research and practice.4 The Discussion Paper reflects a limited vision ofthe task involved in domestic violence law reform and seems concerned primarily to address inconsistencies between extant State and Territory laws concerning protection orders. This is despite international recognition that tinkering with reform in discrete sectors of the legal system is an inadequate response. Reform in one sector may be undermined by fail- ings in other sectors of the system and the absence of a shared vision and meaningful coordination across different sectors. In addition, the outcomes of reform are often shaped by failures in implementation. Countries such as New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom have developed a range of approaches designed to enhance integrated legislation, policy, practice and service delivery which have included model codes and protocols, coordinating councils or other statutory bodies, memoranda of understanding between agen- cies and localised programs. Much of this work is well documented and a large literature exists including evaluative material which could have been a useful resource for the committee if it had sought to develop a model of best practice.' The absence of a preamble or guiding principles The Model Domestic Violence Laws Discussion Paper suffers from the absence of a set of guiding principles. Many of the debates and contro- versies canvassed in the Discussion Paper could be resolved by refer- ence to an appropriate set of principles. The over-riding principle should be to protect those who experience domestic violence. A pream- ble to the model legislation should also specify the need for such legis- lation with reference to: the prevalence of domestic violence in all sections of the Australian community; the fact that the majority of do- mestic violence is perpetrated by men against women and children;6 and the need for perpetrators of violence to take responsibility for their actions and for stopping the violence. The New Zealand Domestic Vio- lence Act 1995 includes an object statement, which might serve as a model. The ACT Community Law Reform Committee also recom- mended an objects clause,7 as did a number of the submissions to the Model Criminal Code Officers Committee (MCCOC) (including sepa- rate submissions by the authors and by WESNET)8 The focus on abuses of legislation It is disturbing that one of the first issues to be addressed in the Discus- sion Paper is the allegation that domestic violence legislation has been 12 ALTERNATIVE LAW JOURNAL

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most