A Tale of Two Codes – The Peregrinations of a Penal Code

Abstract

Tony Smith was an early contributor to this review. It is fitting therefore that a long and distinguished career in the criminal law be celebrated now in a special issue of the same journal. In the following picaresque-like account a colleague and former student join to celebrate the career of Professor Tony Smith. This article considers two criminal law codes – where they came from and the influence of each beyond its country of origin. The two codes referred to in this article are the Queensland Criminal Code Act 1899 prepared by Sir Samuel Griffith and the draft English Criminal Code 1880 prepared by Sir James Fitzjames Stephen.