The Quiet Devolution: How the Model Criminal Code Officers' Committee Botched New South Wales's DNA Law

Abstract:     
This article tracks the background to forensic procedures legislation in NSW and Australia more generally, arguing that its foundation was a subtle handover of power to an expert committee. Rather than being an occasion for the development of high quality criminal procedural legislation away from the din of criminal justice 'law and order' politics, instead, the NSW parliament (along with several other Australian legislatures) has devolved its power to a body that devised the wrong mission, had the wrong background and was subject to raw political interference untempered by even the rough and tumble of parliamentary democracy. The result is not merely inadequate criminal justice policy, but legislation so poorly drafted that it furthers no policy at all.

Keywords: DNA, forensic procedures, legislation, model crimnal code, NSW

JEL Classifications: K40

Accepted Paper Series