Lessons from History: Colonial Foundations of Criminal Law in Victoria

Legal history opens a window into social and political history while at the same time helping us understand the present state of the law. The decisions made by courts and legislatures reflect the temper of the times, most obviously in the field of criminal law. Choices that a society makes-about which conduct should be criminalised, and about how severely offenders should be punished-say much about the concerns of that place and period. And in the choices made by previous generations we can discern the genesis of modern law. Drawing on Paul Mullaly's foundational work Crime in the Port Phillip District 1835-51, this lecture links the past with the present through key aspects of criminal justice in colonial Victoria-jury trials, the role of the trial judge, and ideas about punishment.