Criminal Laws in Australia: Cases and Materials is the only book that deals comprehensively with the criminal law in all Australian states and territories. Unlike the other criminal law books available to Australian law lecturers, it is both a casebook and a textbook. The book consists largely of key appellate court judgements that have been carefully edited by the authors to contain only those passages that are essential for readers to understand and master the legal principles contained therein. Following each of the case extracts is a series of pointed questions calculated to focus the readers' attention on the primary issues presented on appeal as well as the legal reasoning underlying their resolution. Case extracts often fail to clearly articulate the issues raised and/or the legal reasoning employed by the courts in resloving them. In Criminal Laws, the authors have provided commentary that clarified the matters in a concise manner. Each chapter concludes with a series of hypothectical exam-type question that affords readers with an opportunity to test their grasp of the material. Criminal Laws represents a vast improvement over a simple casebook. It offers the reader the benefits of both a casebook and textbook, because it provides commentary when necessary to facilitate an understanding of the various judgements and, at the same time, forces readers to confront the type of scholarly appellate court judgements that will enable them to acquire the writing and oratory skills they need to become competent practitioners.