The Teaching of Criminal Law The pedagogical imperatives Legal Pedagogy Series

The Teaching of Criminal Law provides the first considered discussion of the pedagogy that should inform the teaching of criminal law. It originates from a survey of criminal law courses in different parts of the English-speaking world which showed significant similarity across countries and over time. It also showed that many aspects of substantive law are neglected. This prompted the question of whether any real consideration had been given to criminal law course design. This book seeks to provide a critical mass of thought on how to secure an understanding of substantive criminal law, by examining the course content that best illustrates the thought process of a criminal lawyer, by presenting innovative approaches for securing active learning by students, and by demonstrating how criminal law can secure other worthwhile graduate attributes by introducing wider contexts.

This edited collection brings together contributions from academic teachers of criminal law from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland who have considered issues of course design and often implemented them. Together, they examine several innovative approaches to the teaching of criminal law that have been adopted in a number of law schools around the world, both in teaching methodology and substantive content. The authors offer numerous suggestions for the design of a criminal law course that will ensure students gain useful insights into criminal law and its role in society.

This book helps fill the gap in research into criminal law pedagogy and demonstrates that there are alternative ways of delivering this core part of the law degree. As such, this book will be of key interest to researchers, academics and lecturers in the fields of criminal law, pedagogy and teaching methods.

1. Introduction 2. Building Block or Stumbling Block? Teaching Actus Reus and Mens Rea in Criminal Law 3. Teaching the Elements of Crimes 4. Enhancing Interactivity in the Teaching of Criminal Law: Using Response Technology in the Lecture Theatre 5. Using Problem-Based Learning to Enhance the Study of Criminal Law 6. Turning Criminal Law Upside Down 7. Criminal Law Pedagogy and the Australian State Codes 8. Teaching Criminal Law as Statutory Interpretation 9. Shaking the Foundations: Criminal Law as a Means of Critiquing the Assumptions of the Centrality of Doctrine in Law 10. The Challenges and Benefits of Integrating Criminal Law, Litigation and Evidence 11. ‘Crime and the Criminal Process’: Challenging Traditions, Breaking Boundaries 12. Context and Connection 13. Teaching and Learning Criminal Law ‘in Context’: Taking ‘Context’ Seriously 14. Teaching Indigenous and Minority Students and Perspectives in Criminal Law 15. Introducing Feminist Legal Jurisprudence through the Teaching of Criminal Law 16. Choice 17. The Absence of Regulatory Crime from the Criminal Law Curriculum 18. Conclusion: Looking to the future

Kris Gledhill is Associate Professor at AUT Law School, Auckland, New Zealand.

Ben Livings is Senior Lecturer at the Law School of the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia.