Nigel Stobbs - School of Law

[Print-friendly version]

Lecturer

BA, MA(Phil) (UQ), PGrad Dip Ed (USQ), LLB (Hons) (QUT)

Contact:

Room: C740 (Gardens Point campus)
Tel: (07) 313 84445
Fax: (07) 313 82121
Email: n2.stobbs@qut.edu.au

Prior to taking up a fulltime academic position, Nigel practised as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland and of the High Court of Australia, practicing mainly in the criminal jurisdiction. He has worked in law and education for many years, both in Australia and overseas.

Nigel completed a masters degree in Philosophy at the University of Queensland and has maintained a strong interest in jurisprudence and the links between legal discourse and analytical philosophy. He has research interests in the areas of litigation reform, legal professional ethics, the law of evidence and bioethics.  In 2005 he presented papers on conflicts of interest in research involving human embryos at the World Ethics Forum at the University of Oxford, and on litigation reform to the 3rd International Conference on Therapeutic Jurisprudence at Edith Cowan University.

Nigel is currently completing a PhD thesis in the area of self-represented litigants in Australian appellate courts.  He is the recipient of two external research grants; one which will investigate the implementation of new conduct standards in the Legal Profession Act 2005 (Qld) and another which investigates the experiences of litigants in person in the Queensland Court of Appeal.

Units currently taught:

• LWB239 Criminal Responsibility
• LWB431 Civil Procedure
• LWB432 Evidence
• LWB434 Advanced Research and Legal Reasoning

Research Interests:

• Therapeutic jurisprudence
• Jury issues
• Public confidence in courts and the administration of justice
• Indigenous legal issues
• Associations and clubs law
• The epistemology of legal discourse
• The Whitechapel murders

Research Funding:

External

Sentencing And Public Confidence: Public Perceptions And The Role Of The Public In Sentencing Practice And Policy. (A/Prof GI Mackenzie; Dr D Indermaur; Prof RG Broadhurst; Prof CA Warner; Dr LD Roberts; Mr N Stobbs) 2007 and commencing in 2008 - $542,000.

Ethics Handbook for Queensland Legal Practitioners. (Professor Stephen Corones, Mr Nigel Stobbs, Mr Mark Thomas), Legal Practitioners Interest on Trust Accounts Fund 2006 - $34,980.

Self-represented Litigants in the Queensland Court of Appeal. (Mr Nigel Stobbs, Mr Mark Thomas), Legal Practitioners Interest on Trust Accounts Fund 2006 - $18,345.

Internal

Measuring the Trans-Institutional and Trans-Professional Climate of the Queensland Criminal Justice System.  (Stobbs and Thomas)  Faculty grant  - $1,326.00

The Aboriginal Litigant in Person - Gauging the Effectiveness of Alternative Indigenous Sentencing Tribunals Across Australian Jurisdictions.  Funding - $866.00

Public Confidence in Sentencing (Associate Professor Geraldine Mackenzie, Profesor Rod Broadhurst, Mr Nigel Stobbs) – Faculty seed grant for ARC Discovery Grant application 2007 - $15,000.

Developing Multimedia Problem Solving Strategies for Advanced Legal Research.  Faculty Teaching and Learning Grant 2006 - $3,760.

Select Publications

Journal Articles

Stobbs, Nigel (2005) What Can We Do You For? Naïve Conceptions of the Value of Indigenous Culture and Communities Indigenous Law Bulletin 6(10):18-20.

Stobbs, Nigel Lockhart Review into human cloning and research involving human embryos – closing the gap? (2006) 26 Queensland Lawyer 247.

Stobbs, Nigel ‘I love a sunburned country but I prefer my flag untouched, (2006) 6(17) Indigenous Law Bulletin 20.

Stobbs, Nigel ‘How to Be Selfish and Political Without Really Trying – Time for a Paradigm Shift in the Resolution of Disputes Within Queensland’s Not-for-Profit Associations’ (2006) 5(2) QUT Law and Justice Journal.

Books

Stobbs, N. (2005) ‘The Adversarial System of Justice: Is it fair?’ in Hayes, S. Stobbs, N and Lauchs, M. (eds) (2005) Social Ethics for Legal and Justice Professionals. Pearson: Sydney.

Stobbs, N. (2006) ‘From assimilation to diversity – Changing paradigms of racism in Australia’ in Antonopoulos, G. and Winterdyk, J (eds), Racial Victimisation: International Reflections and Perspectives, DeSitter – London (in press).

Conference papers

Stobbs, N. “The ethics of research involving human embryos – towards an international standard” International Institute for Public Ethics, World Ethics Forum, Keble College University of Oxford, UK 9-11 April 2006.

Stobbs, N and Thomas, M “Does the left-hand know what the right hand is doing?, World Ethics Forum, Keble College University of Oxford, UK 9-11 April 2006.

Stobbs, N. “Self-Represented Litigants and the Anti-Therapeutic Consequences of Appellate Proceedings in Australian Courts” 3 rd International Conference on Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Edith Cowan University, Perth 7-9 June 2006.