Melbourne Law School - Research Publications
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 3 of 3
-
ItemSupported Decision-Making in Criminal Proceedings: A Sociolegal Empirical Study(SAGE Publications, 2021)This article outlines a project in which supported decision-making (SDM) and broader support to exercise legal capacity were provided to accused persons with cognitive disabilities in the Australian criminal justice system. The program was developed to advance the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in relation to unfitness to plead laws. The researchers collaborated with three community legal services in three Australian jurisdictions. Four nonlegal “disability support people” were trained to work with accused persons alongside legal counsel to maximize their participation in the trial process and avoid the need for unfitness to plead determinations under current laws. The article draws on qualitative research conducted in the form of interviews with clients, lawyers, and support persons. The findings provide an evidence base for implementing SDM for persons with disabilities in the criminal justice system. It also helps answer the question of whether unfitness to plead laws should be repealed in pursuit of a “universally accessible” justice system in line with the CRPD.
-
ItemNo Preview AvailableRelational Personhood: A new conception of legal personhood with insights from disability rights and environmental law(Taylor and Francis, 2021)People with disability have demanded the recognition of full legal personhood in order to realise their rights and to overcome dominance and oppression. Legal personhood is also being claimed for similar reasons for natural entities, including rivers, forests, and mountains. However, the prevailing neo-liberal understanding of legal personhood relies on the individual exercising personhood independently. This may not be enough to secure the interests and realise the rights of people with disability, natural entities, or other cohorts that are not experiencing a wealth of power and privilege. In this article, we attempt to overcome centuries of (white, able-bodied, cis gender) male centric theory of legal personhood. We reject the dominant conceptions of personhood from liberal political theory that emphasise an atomistic, isolated individual making independent decisions. Instead, we argue for a different conception of legal personhood – relational personhood. We use insights from feminist theories of relational autonomy as well as the experience of disability to help us re-conceptualise personhood to embrace exercising autonomy through a collaborative process of acknowledging, interpreting and acting on an individual’s expressions of will and preference. We then apply this new conception to the recognition of legal personhood in nature and explore how natural entities can exercise their personhood via their relationships with humans – and, in particular, Indigenous Peoples, who have developed close relationships with natural entities over centuries. Our aim is to demonstrate the utility of a conception of legal personhood that encompass the reality of the interdependence of all individuals and entities.
-
ItemEnhancing Access and Support for Water Customers with Cognitive Disabilities: A Guide for Water Businesses(Essential Services Commission, 2020)This document is designed to assist water businesses to maximise accessibility and support for customers in a manner that is consistent with best practice in terms of water businesses’ regulatory obligations. It is based on research conducted with people with cognitive disabilities and their representative organisations.