This is the third edition of a unique Australian criminal law textbook. The book is unusual among criminal law textbooks because of its attention to the history of the criminal law, and to Indigenous legal issues, to which it devotes specific chapters. It also pays significant attention to criminal procedure, as well as sentencing – both areas not generally dealt with in standard texts, but of great use particularly to practitioners.

The book is unique, however, not only in that it is specific to the Northern Territory, which is alone in Australia in possessing both ‘Code’ and ‘non-Code’ jurisdictions, but also because of its detailed focus on cultural and linguistic questions and their relationship to the criminal law.

The third edition brings the book up-to-date in light of significant developments in the nine years since the last edition, including the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children. Consequential amendments have been made to all chapters, and particularly the chapters focusing on criminal responsibility. The book also contains a new chapter entirely devoted to linguistic issues in the criminal law.