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A/Prof. Theo Alexander

STAFF PROFILE

Position

Associate Professor of Legal Practice

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

Department

Deakin Law School

Campus

Melbourne Burwood Campus

Qualifications

Master of Laws, Deakin University, 2011

Biography

Theo Alexander is an Associate Professor in Deakin Law School and a practising barrister at the Victorian Bar. He teaches in sentencing law and the law of evidence and practices in commercial and criminal law.

Theo holds a PhD with a thesis entitled: ‘A Rational Approach to Sentencing White-Collar Offenders’ and a Masters degree by research discussing the right to silence in concurrent civil and criminal proceedings. 

His academic work has been cited in the case law, eg Davis (a Pseudonym) v The Queen [2016] VSCA 272.

Theo has published widely in professional and academic journals, both in Australia and internationally, including the Melbourne University Law Review, Monash University Law Review, Sydney Law Review, University of New South Wales Law Journal, Albany Law Review and the Journal of Commonwealth Criminal Law. 

He is also the co-author of three law texts:

Australian Human Rights Law (CCH, 2011)

Uniform Evidence Law: Principles and Practice (CCH, 2015) 

Australian Sentencing Law (Thomson Reters, 2018). 

Theo is an editor of the loose-leaf/online service Australian Sentencing and contributing author for The Laws of Australia on terrorism offences. Theo has given expert evidence to a Senate Economic References Committee, specifically addressing penalties for white-collar crimes.

Read more on Theo's profile

Research interests

  • Sentencing and white-collar crime

Teaching interests

  • Sentencing Law
  • Evidence Law
  • Criminal Law
  • Australian Human Rights Law

Knowledge areas

  • Commercial Law/Corporations Law
  • Insolvency
  • Criminal Law/Criminal Appeals
  • Corporate Crime/White-collar crime
  • Regulatory (ASIC, ATO, ACCC) Investigations/Prosecutions

Conferences

  • Whats wrong with the Evidence Act?, ICU Seminars, Australia, 2018
  • Ethics Update: Cases and Development, Leo Cussen Centre for Law, Australia, 2016.
  • The New Uniform Law: ethical implications, State Revenue Office, Australia, 2015.
  • Ethics: a review, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Australia, 2015.
  • The Ethics of Advising, Legalwise Seminars, Australia, 2014.
  • Justice miscarried: update on the new appeals regime, ICU Seminars, Australia, 2013.
  • Ethics for Corporate Lawyers, Australian Corporate Lawyers Association - State Conference, Australia, 2012

Media appearances

  • Theo has appeared in the media in relation to a number of publicised cases in which he has acted for accused persons.

Projects

  • Legal Education, Theo has delivered papers on ethics, white-collar crime and appellate practice for professional CPD providers, law firms, the Law of Institute of Victoria, Leo Cussen Institute, and various government agencies, including ASIC.
  • Pro Bono, Theo volunteers his time to train and judge students in advocacy, mooting and witness examination competitions at the Melbourne, Monash, Deakin and La Trobe Universities. He was also a debater in the 2010 and 2015 Legal Comedy Debates.

Publications

Filter by

2021

Less prison time matters: A roadmap to reducing the discriminatory impact of the sentencing system against African Americans and Indigenous Australians

Mirko Bagaric, Peter Isham, Jennifer Svilar, Theodosios Alexander

(2021), Vol. 37, pp. 1405-1447, Georgia State University law review, Atlanta, Ga., C1

journal article

A rational approach to the evaluation of harm in the sentencing calculus

Mirko Bagaric, Theodosios Alexander

(2021), Vol. 50, pp. 251-278, Australian Bar Review, Chatswood, N.S.W., C1

journal article
2019

Offenders risking deportation deserve a sentencing discount-but the reduction should be provisional

M BAGARIC, T ALEXANDER, B BAGARIC

(2019), Vol. 43, pp. 423-461, Melbourne University Law Review, C1

journal article
2018

The United States' Incarceration Crisis: Cautionary Lessons for Australian Sentencing

Mirko Bagaric, Theo Alexander, Gabrielle Wolf

(2018), Vol. 42, pp. 34-50, CRIMINAL LAW JOURNAL, C1

journal article
2017

Taking rehabilitation seriously in sentencing: transforming it from an expedient to a sentencing principle

M Bagaric, T Alexander

(2017), Vol. 27, pp. 654-689, New Zealand Universities Law Review, Wellington, New Zealand, C1

journal article
2016

The Fallacy of Punishing Offenders for the Deeds of Others: An Argument for Abolishing Offence Prevalence as a Sentencing Aggravating Consideration

Mirko Bagaric, Theo Alexander

(2016), Vol. 38, pp. 23-47, SYDNEY LAW REVIEW, C1

journal article
2015

First-time offender, productive offender, offender with dependents: why the profile of offenders (sometimes) matters in sentencing

M Bagaric, T Alexander

(2015), Vol. 78, pp. 397-446, Albany Law Review, Albany, New York, C1

journal article

Addressing the curious blackspot that is the separation between the principle of legality and sentencing

T Alexander, M Bagaric

(2015), Vol. 41, pp. 515-551, Monash University law review, Melbourne, Vic, C1

journal article
2014

A Rational Approach To Sentencing White- Collar Offenders in Australia

M Bagaric, T Alexander

(2014), Vol. 34, pp. 317-349, Adelaide Law Review, Adelaide, South Australia, C1

journal article

(Particularly) burdensome prison time should reduce imprisonment length - and not merely in theory

M Bagaric, R Edney, T Alexander

(2014), Vol. 38, pp. 409-443, Melbourne university law review, Melbourne, Vic., C1

journal article
2013

Rehabilitating totality in sentencing: from obscurity to principle

M Bagaric, T Alexander

(2013), Vol. 36, pp. 139-167, University of New South Wales law journal, Sydney, N.S.W., C1

journal article
2012

The capacity of criminal sanctions to shape the behaviour of offenders : specific deterrence doesn't work, rehabilitation might and the implications for sentencing

M Bagaric, T Alexander

(2012), Vol. 36, pp. 159-172, Criminal law journal, Rozelle, N.S.W., C1

journal article

The fallacy that is incapacitation : an argument for limiting imprisonment only to sex and violent offenders

M Bagaric, T Alexander

(2012), pp. 95-124, Journal of commonwealth criminal law, Surrey, England, C1

journal article
2011

Australian human rights law

M Bagaric, P Faris, T Alexander

(2011), Sydney, N.S.W., A1

book

The fallacy of general deterrence and the futility of imprisoning offenders for tax fraud

M Bagaric, T Alexander, A Pathinayake

(2011), Vol. 26, pp. 511-540, Australian tax forum, Sydney N.S.W., C1

journal article

(Marginal) general deterrence doesn't work - and what it means for sentencing

M Bagaric, T Alexander

(2011), Vol. 35, pp. 269-283, Criminal law journal, Rozelle, N.S.W., C1

journal article

The illusion that is the right to a fair trial in Australia

M Bagaric, T Alexander, M Ebejer

(2011), Vol. 17, pp. 59-90, Australian journal of human rights, Chatswood , N.S.W., C1

journal article

Funded Projects at Deakin

No Funded Projects at Deakin found

Supervisions

No completed student supervisions to report