Heather Douglas and Mark Finnane; Palgrave Macmillan, 2012; 280pp; $150.00

Since the Mabo decision, there has been a flourishing of research on the techniques of colonial common law to assert British jurisdiction. This has shed light on the long shadows of British jurisdiction on postcolonial Australian society and particularly Indigenous societies. Drawing on property cases and a rich analysis of the legal archive, property scholars have set into sharp relief how common law courts assert ‘jurisdiction in order to supplant other sites of adjudication and authority’.¹ They have written extensively about jurisdiction as a technology of sovereignty and have channelled their work into an analysis of the place of British law in asserting jurisdiction over inter se crimes — crimes committed by an Indigenous perpetrator on an Indigenous victim in the same group — for furthering the project of sovereignty.

Danielle Tyson;

Routledge, 2013; 230pp; $51.00 (paperback)

The partial defence of provocation is one of the most controversial doctrines within the criminal law. It has now been abolished in a number of jurisdictions. In Sex, Culpability and the Defence of Provocation, Danielle Tyson provides ample historical and contemporary evidence to justify the abolition of the defence. More disturbingly, she raises questions about whether or not law reforms will change the strength and persistence of the explanation that a woman who is murdered ‘asked for it’.

Peter Robson and Jessica Silbey (eds);

Hart Publishing, 2012; 472 pp; $55.00 (paperback)

The study of law in popular culture is booming. Surprisingly, while interdisciplinary studies of law in the cinema are common in academic books and journals, attention to law in TV representations have been relatively scarce. (Although the Alternative Law Journal has, over the years, tended to favour reviews of the latter.) Given that TV now is probably the major source of our day-to-day understanding of the world outside, not least law and the legal system, the paucity of substantial research into the meaning and effect of TV portrayals of legal actors and institutions is surprising.

SBS TV, second season; hosted by David Corlett, featuring Angry Anderson, Catherine Deveny, Michael Smith, Imogen Bailey, Allan Asher and Peter Reith;

Screened in 2012; available online or on DVD, $29.99.

The premise of SBS’s Go Back To Where You Came From sounds simple enough: to take six (in this, its second season, reasonably well-known) Australians out of their comfort zones and trace the paths to Australia of refugees in order to expose the harrowing and sometimes deadly journeys taken in search of perceived safety and opportunity. Taking such an approach may appear to be trivialising an issue fraught with problems, but it does the job by appealing to our survival instincts and asking, ‘what would you do in my situation?’

Paula Gerber and Melissa Castan (eds);

Thomson Reuters, 2012; $93.00 (paperback)

The latest contribution to the study of human rights law in Australia, this edited collection is a broad compilation by leading and up-and-coming human rights practitioners, academics and advocates. The book successfully combines human rights law-based analysis, education and policy recommendations. From the popular to the oft forgotten human rights issues, this book leaves few stones unturned.

An insightful and inspiring foreword by Michael Kirby sets the tone for the book, which explores, in an accessible and thorough manner, the history and evolution of Australia’s engagement with human rights on both the domestic and international levels. Importantly, this examination of the human rights landscape does not shy away from topical and controversial debates in contemporary Australia. From marriage equality to ‘boat people’ and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, this book looks beneath the shallow media-driven discourse and provides an up-to-date, in-depth analysis with historical reviews, statistical and legal analysis and policy ideas to strengthen Australia’s respect for and protection of human rights.