Offerings
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NS5361:03

The Law, Social Policy and the Mentally Ill Offender

External

HECS Band 1

80 contact hours. Semester 1

Available to students enrolled in postgraduate courses.

Staff:

Professor C Holmes.

The relationship between social policy, the law and human rights as it affects mentally ill offenders. Criminal and mental health legislation, the legal process, alternative sentencing options. Mental illness as a legal defence, as a mitigating factor and as grounds for diversion out of the sentencing process, including the role of expert witnesses. Mental Health Review Tribunals, the Mental Health Court and other agencies involved in managing mentally ill offenders.

Learning Objectives:

to outline the relationship between social policy, the law and human rights as it affects mentally ill offenders;

to give an account of criminal and mental health legislation and the legal process in Australia and other countries;

to give an account of custodial and correctional systems;

to understand the significance of mental disorder as a factor in the disposal of offenders, including alternative sentencing options and describe the role of expert witnesses and testimony;

to give an account of the role of the Mental Health Review Tribunal, the Mental Health Court and other agencies involved in the legal framework for managing mentally ill offenders.

Assessment by one assignment (100%).