The Bugmy Papers

In 2023/2024 we undertook a research project in the Victorian County Court which sought to explore the manner in which the County Court had applied the findings of the High Court judgement Bugmy v The Queen HCA 37. The research findings were published in a Preliminary Report in July 2023 and a final Discussion Paper was published in November 2024: the research was referred to as the Bugmy Project. Whilst the Bugmy Project identified a number of matters that required further attention two stood out as being critically important in terms of ensuring fairness and justice for offenders. They were ‘Expert Reports’ and ‘Self-reports’ and they are the primary focus of ‘The Bugmy Papers’. Both matters raise a number of complex issues and require consideration of the judiciary, barristers, solicitors and forensic experts. To assist in the process of enabling that consideration we have prepared a compendium of working papers which culminate in the development of a framework which introduces a structured method for examining deprivation and its consequence for assessment of moral culpability. We begin by providing the 2024 research, The Bugmy Project and that is followed by three separate but interconnected discussion papers. The papers culminate in what we have referred to as ‘The Developmental Model’ which provides a procedural framework necessary to translate the principles in Bugmy into a practical method for assessing moral culpability. We acknowledge that there are often multiple ways in which any given matter may be addressed – in our case we have taken a number of positions which may be seen to be contentious – in so doing we hope to initiate discussion which will ultimately lead to the resolution of the significant issues that arise from the Bugmy Papers.