This course explores selected issues of contemporary criminal justice and criminal law reform and discusses future directions of the criminal law, both nationally and internationally. The course is taught intensively over five days and examines five different specific areas including, inter alia, social-media related crime (cyber crime, fake news etc), criminalisation and legalisation of drugs, and general principles and purposes of criminal law in the 21st century. The course is highly interactive with students expected to engage in group work, participate in discussion, and present their ideas in class.

Course presenter

Andreas SchloenhardtProfessor Andreas Schloenhardt

Andreas Schloenhardt is Professor of Criminal Law in the School of Law at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia and Professorial Research Fellow in the Faculty of Law, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at the University of Vienna, Austria. He serves as a consultant to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok, Islamabad, and Vienna and to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Professor Schloenhardt is a Visiting Professor at the University of Zurich (since 2014) and the University of St Gallen, Switzerland (since 2013).

Professor Schloenhardt holds a PhD in Law from The University of Adelaide. Prior to his position at The University of Queensland, he was a lecturer at The University of Adelaide Law School. He completed his first law degree at the University of Augsburg, Germany and holds the Erstes Staatsexmanen from the Ministry of Justice in Munich, Germany.

Professor Schloenhardt's principal areas of research include criminal law, organised crime, migrant smuggling, trafficking in persons, narco-trafficking, terrorism, criminology, and immigration and refugee law. He is the author of many books and journal articles and his work is frequently cited by other scholars, in government reports, and judicial decisions, including the High Court of Australia. His recent work focuses on organised crime legislation and international efforts to prevent and suppress migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons. Professor Schloenhardt is a frequent commentator on national television, radio, and in newspapers. At The University of Queensland, Professor Schloenhardt coordinates the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Working Groups.

Professor Schloenhardt has held adjunct appointments and visiting professorships at Bucerius Law School, Hamburg (2016 and 2013), the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law (2011), The University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2007–09), and the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA (2006–09). In 2011-12, Professor Schloenhardt was a recipient of a Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

Professor Schloenhardt is a member of the Austrian Society of Criminal Law and Criminology and he has worked extensively with the Australian Federal Police, Singapore Police Force, and a range of law enforcement agencies across Asia and North America. He has been a member of Australian Government delegations to the United Nations and works closely with a range of government agencies and international organisations.

Course information

Course code
LAWS5224

Course profile