Self-governing Codifications of English Criminal Law and Empire: The Queensland and Canadian Examples

Abstract

The Canadian and Queensland examples are used to analyse the historical debates around the codification of English criminal law, and an attempt is made to better situate Griffith's 1899 Code within related legal, constitutional and political currents. The place of Griffith's code is compared with the Canadian code and it is argued that both efforts reflect ambitious political and constitutional objectives that went beyond more effective crime control.