Mark Nolan

Director

Professor Mark Nolan

BSc(Hons), LLB, MAsPacSt, PhD (ANU), SFHEA

Director, Centre for Law and Justice
Bathurst
Building 1400 Room 1.15

Professor Mark Nolan is an interdisciplinary legal scholar with qualifications in law, honours and doctoral training in social psychology, and a Masters of Asia Pacific Studies majoring in Thai language. Prior to becoming Director of the Centre for Law and Justice at CSU in April 2020, Mark worked at the ANU College of Law, The Australian National University, Canberra since 2002. At ANU, Mark taught undergraduate and postgraduate students and researched criminal law and procedure, including codified Australian federal criminal law (such as counter-terrorism law, human trafficking, cybercrime, social security, and drug law), law and psychology, military discipline law (taught to Legal Officers in the ADF), Foundations of Australian Law, advocacy, and human rights law. Other research interests include citizenship law, social cohesion, human rights law, intergroup relations, stereotyping, prejudice, social justice theory, and sentencing law. Mark held a range of administrative positions at ANU including HDR Director, Associate Dean (Education), JD Director (including of an online JD), and Director of Postgraduate Programs.

Mark has also guest lectured into psychology and Asian studies programs, taught public servants (at the ANU National Security College), delivered continuing professional development courses to psychiatrists and psychologists, and, continuing legal education to lawyers. Mark has also taught law with law students to detainees in prison in Canberra; initially in a voluntary capacity for the Law Reform and Social Justice initiative at ANU then as a clinical course.

Mark was awarded life membership of the NJCA in 2020 in recognition of his role as a conference organiser and host since 2006 of conferences bringing together judicial officers, practitioners, academics, and other professionals including psychiatrists and psychologists. Other work undertaken for the NJCA has involved developing and delivering judicial education courses, hosting visiting judicial fellows, and editing the Commonwealth Sentencing Database (https://njca.com.au/resources/csd-principles-practice/).

Mark has made individual and joint submissions to parliamentary inquiries in the area of counter-terrorism law and federal criminal law and in 2017 was a co-author on a research report about memory of complainants of historical institutional child sexual abuse for the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: https://bit.ly/34LI5Em .

Mark has contributed to and/or hosted national and international research meetings on jury reform in Australia and Asia (especially the reforms in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan). Mark has completed staff research exchanges in Japan (Chuo University) and research training in Myanmar (University of Yangon), as well as delivering research presentations in Thailand (Chulalongkorn and Thammasat Universities). Mark has also taught international students visiting ANU from University of Alabama (comparative counter-terrorism law and Survey of Australia Law courses) and from a range of Japanese law schools (in the regular ANU Canberra Seminar). Since 2004, Mark has also helped to host visitors from the Japanese court system via visitor programs with the Australian Network of Japanese Law as well as the Ministry of Justice in Japan. Mark has also hosted visits from the Supreme Court of Thailand and Indonesian Australia Awards recipients; including teaching visiting Indonesian investigators interviewing psychology together with Australian police officers.

Mark was the inaugural ACT Branch President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law (ANZAPPL) from 2012-2015. Since 2012 he has organised a program of research presentations and conferences for ANZAPPL (in 2015, jointly hosted by the Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry of the Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists). He has served as Secretary and President Elect on the binational executive committee of ANZAPPL is currently the Editor-in Chief (April 2020-April 2023) of the ANZAPPL journal Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.

Upon appointment at CSU, Mark remained an Honorary Professor (adjunct) at the ANU College of Law: https://law.anu.edu.au/people/mark-nolan .

Teaching

Since 2002 at ANU, Mark has been involved in convening or teaching into the following undergraduate and postgraduate courses: Criminal Law and Procedure, Federal Criminal Law, Law and Psychology, Military Discipline Law, Advanced Military Discipline Law, Foundations of Australian Law, Criminal Justice, Prison Legal Literacy Clinic, Law Capstone Project, and Human Rights Law in Australia.

At Charles Sturt University Mark will teach into a range of law courses and criminal justice courses.

Research Interests

Legal psychology, criminal law and procedure including codified Australian federal criminal law (such as counter-terrorism law and human trafficking) and military discipline law. Citizenship law, social cohesion, human rights law, intergroup relations, social justice theory, and sentencing law. Comparative criminal and constitutional law in Asia.

Research Projects

Current
  • Social Cohesion, Diversity and Integration project (4th placed cross-campus team of researchers from the 2018 Grand Challenges Bid funded as a start-up project by the VC and various ANU Deans). The funding for a law component is committed is $150,000 over 3 years 2019-2021.
  • Narratives of Compassion in Sentencing (with A/Prof Anthony Hopkins, Prof Lorana Bartels, Dr Stephen Tang and Dr Shannon Buglar (research assistant)) $25 000 in 2019 ANU College of Law New Research Collaboration Grant for an experimental project on attitudes and reaction to compassionate approaches to writing sentencing remarks and discourse analysis of some sentencing remarks including the initial County Court sentencing of Cardinal Pell.
  • Post-sentence detention or monitoring for terrorism risk in Australian States.
  • Regulation of Online Abhorrent Violent Material post-Christchurch.
  • Alternative ways of adducing evidence in child sexual abuse trials.
  • Legal Psychology in Australia (2nd Edition, Thomson Reuters Law Book).
  • Memory of complainants in decided cases of historical institutional child sexual abuse.
Past funded projects

Mark Nolan, Understanding the Link Between “Victim” and Perpetrator Status for Thai Women Convicted of Trafficking and Enslaving Thai Women in Australia (ANU College of Law Small Grant Scheme / ARC seeding Project, 2016, $3963.60).

Andrew Byrnes, Simon Bronitt, Miriam Gani, Russell Hogg, Penelope Mathew, Mark Nolan, and Gabriele Porretto, Terrorism and the Non-State Actor After September 11: The Role of Law in the Search for Security. Discovery Project (DP0451473) Funded by the Australian Research Council 2004-2007, $180 000 total.


Summary: September 11 elicited diverse legal responses to a perceived threat of unprecedented global terrorism. This project will redress the dearth of analysis integrating legal and social-scientific perspectives on recent anti-terrorism laws. Combining perspectives from international and criminal law, criminology and social psychology, the project will explore the challenges these developments pose to accepted legal categories; debates around exceptionalism as a justification for new laws; their unintended and collateral consequences; and public attitudes to new security measures. The research will enhance understanding of current reactions to terrorism and inform policy analysis and public debate over appropriate future responses.

Current Supervision

Current PhD students supervised:

Constitutional Rights under Thai Constitutions https://law.anu.edu.au/people/sarah-bishop

Negligence and Military Offences in Australian Military Discipline Law https://law.anu.edu.au/people/joshua-liddy

Sentencing and Culture When Sentencing Indigenous Australians https://law.anu.edu.au/people/mary-spiers-williams

Official Visitors in the Japanese Correctional System https://law.anu.edu.au/people/carol-lawson

Current PhD panel memberships:

http://history.cass.anu.edu.au/people/murray-chisholm (History/CASS)

Past Supervision

(Co-)supervised PhD Students

Dr Alexandra Walker, The Global Collective Consciousness: Applying a Depth Psychology Framework to International Law (ANUCoL, Co-supervisor with Prof Kim Rubenstein) (thesis submitted)

Dr Abhichon Chandrasen, Enhancing the Deterrent Effect of Anti-Fraud Measures in Thai Securities Law and Compliance Procedures

Dr Alexandra McEwan, The Concept of Violence: A Proposed Framework for the Study of Animal Protection Law and Policy

PhD Panel Memberships

Dr Wendy Kukulies-Smith, Punishing Parents: A Study of Family Hardship in Australian Sentencing (ANUCoL, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by Prof Simon Bronitt)

Dr Robin Gibson, Bridging the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality: Can the Law Enforce Quality Patient-Centred Care in Australia? (ANUCoL, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by A/Prof Miriam Gani)

Dr Johannes-Krebs, The Right to a Fair Trial in the Context of Counter-Terrorism: The Use and Suppression of Sensitive Information in Australia and the United Kingdom (ANUCoL, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by Prof Simon Bronitt)

Dr Carolyn Penfold, Contextualising Legal Education: The Case of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. (ANUCoL, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by Prof Michael Coper)

Dr Anne Imobersteg Harvey, Comparison of Counter-terrorism Law and Organised Crime Law: EU and Australia (Faculty of Law, University of Western Australia, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by Prof Peter Handford):

Dr Melanie Blair, Euthanasia Law Reform in the UK (Faculty of Law, University of Newcastle, UK; Visiting PhD Scholar ANU College of Law, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by Prof Ashley Wilton)

Dr Kath Hall, Psychological Jurisprudence and the Professional Regulation of Large-Firm Lawyer Dishonesty (ANUCoL, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by Prof Stephen Bottomley)

Dr Saskia Hufnagel, Comparison of European and Australian Cross Border Law Enforcement Strategies. [PhD passed December 2010] by Saskia Hufnagel (ANUCoL, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by Prof Simon Bronitt)

Dr Caroline Blink, Processes in Long-term Attitude Change in Relation to Reconciliation. [PhD conferred July 2011] (CMBE, Department of Psychology, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by Prof Craig McGarty/Dr Ken Mavor)

Dr Léan O’Brien, Dynamic Justice: A Social Identity Perspective on the Context-Dependent Nature of Justice Principles. (PhD Conferred 2010) (CMBE, Department of Psychology, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by A/Prof Michael Platow)

Dr Antoinette Harmer, Assessment of Best Interests of the Child Under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) by Australian Forensic Psychologists (School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, PhD (Forensic Psychology) placement co-supervisor supporting a PhD panel chaired by Prof. Don Thomson (retired) and Prof Jane Goodman-Delahunty)

Dr Perri Timmins, Factors Influencing Judicial Officers’ Attitude Towards Using Sentencing Guidelines (PhD conferred Dec 2005) (ANUCoL, PhD Adviser on panel chaired by Prof Simon Bronitt)

Honours Supervisions in ANU College of Law and ANU Research School of Psychology

More than 40 supervisions.

Professional Associations

  • President Elect, Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law (ANZAPPL)
  • Editor-in-Chief, Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law (ANZAPPL)

Committees

  • Organising Committee for The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law and The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry 2019 Joint Conference, Psychiatry, Psychology and Law: Collaboration and Challenges Across the Global South (5 - 8 November 2019, Singapore) https://www.ppl2019.com/
  • ACT Legal Aid Forum - Alexander Maconochie Centre Prisoners' Legal Services Working Group (2013)
  • National Judicial College of Australia and ANU College of Law annual joint conference organising committee (2006-present)

Media

DateMedia

21 May 2020

Charles Sturt University, News, Have the bushfires and COVID-19 highlighted a constitutional crisis in Australia?

7 May 2020

2BS Radio, Interview ‘New role as Director for the Centre for Law and Justice at Charles Sturt University’

4 May 2020

Charles Sturt University, News, ‘New Director for the Charles Sturt Centre for Law and Justice

2 May 2020

Centre for Law and Justice, Research Seminar, ‘More Than One Australian Post-Sentence Preventive Terrorism Regime: Straining Cooperative Federalism and Much More?’

28 April 2020

Australian National University, New & Events, ‘After a stellar ANU career, Professor Nolan prepares for new CSU directorship’

18 September 2019

ABC Radio Evenings Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility and Doli Incapax’ from 1:33:44 – 1:46:33

28 March 2019

Wall Street JournalJournalists Face Prison Over Reporting George Pell Sex-Abuse Conviction

26 February 2019

ABC Radio 666 Canberra How Does Jury Duty Work?’

12 December 2018

Radio 2CC Canberra ‘Inside the Mind of a Firestarter’

28 March 2018

New York Times ‘Australian Court to Decide Whether Cardinal Pell Faces Trial’

21 May 2017

ABC TV Canberra and online news ‘Concern over Jury Trials in the Internet Age’

6 July 2017

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse report ‘Research finds misconceptions about memory may affect child sexual abuse prosecutions

26 July 2016

ABCTV Lateline ‘Prime Minister Pushes for New Laws to Detain High Risk Terrorists Indefinitely’

1 April 2016

ABC Lateline ‘What It’s Like to Sweat Under the Interrogation Lamp’

11 December 2015

Skynews TV Newsday ‘COAG Plan for Indefinite Detention of Terrorists’

12 October 2010

Lawyers Weekly ‘Force of Obligation’

28 September 2010

ABC Radio 612 Brisbane Mornings ‘Murder Charges Announced Against Four SAS Soldiers’

28 September 2010

The Wire Radio ‘ADF Soldiers on Charges Over Deaths’

28 September 2009

(with Simon Bronitt) The Age ‘Our Sights Must be Set on Justice’

1 May 2006

ANU Reporter ‘Trialling a Jury’

1 March 2006

On Campus ‘Legal Minds Help Shape Sentencing Courses’

6 July 2005

The Australian Higher Education Supplement (B Lane) ‘Terror a Law Unto Itself’

14 June 2005

ABC702 Radio Sydney Morning Show ‘Press Conference Held by Jurors in the Michael Jackson Case’

22 January 2004

ABC666 Canberra Mornings Show ‘Japanese Jury Reforms and Visits by Japanese Prosecutors to the ANU’

5 October 2001

ANU Reporter ‘The Human Rights Psyche in Australian Political Debate’