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Prosecuting Crime in the Public Interest: How Tension between Independence and Accountability Threatens the Rule of Law in Australia

New Arrival Prosecuting Crime in the Public Interest: How Tension between Independence and Accountability Threatens the Rule of Law in Australia

Prosecuting Crime in the Public Interest: How Tension between Independence and Accountability Threatens the Rule of Law in Australia

Author: Kellie Toole
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781509973248

Published In: January 2026
Format: Paperback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only
Hardback Edition ISBN: 9781509973200

List Price: S$87.34

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Description
Contents

Details

This book provides the first detailed analysis of the decision to prosecute made by the statutory Australian Offices of Director of Prosecution.

It examines the system of prosecution as part of the executive branch of government, and the role and challenges of the individual prosecutors who make decisions within the system. It explores the tension between prosecutorial independence and prosecutorial accountability, and the paradox that political involvement in prosecutions is necessary for accountability and to uphold the public interest, but can compromise independence.

The book makes a unique contribution to both Australian criminal law scholarship and to the international literature on criminal prosecution, by drawing on the sub-disciplines of criminal law and administrative law. It includes case studies on prosecuting child sexual abuse, rape, and government espionage, and comparisons with common law and civil law countries including the USA, the UK, Italy and South Africa.

Part One: The Problem – The Australian Attorney General

1. The Modern Problem

2. The English Origins

3. Australian Concerns

Part Two: The Problematic Solution - The Australian Director of Public Prosecutions

4. The Continuing English Legacy

5. Prosecutorial and Executive Discretion

6. Nature of the Australian DPPs: A Political-Statutory Hybrid

7. The Reasonable Prospects of Conviction Test

8. The Public Interest Test

9. Accountability of the Attorney-General

10. Accountability and the DPP