Reading the Entrails: The Extractive Work of a Fence

This essay offers an evisceration of my troubled links to ‘cattle country’, seeking a truth-telling that responds to my mother’s romancing. I trace my family’s part in the cattle industry imposed upon Jiman Country and Wulli Wulli Country, drawing on stories populated with the hooves of cattle, the flight of emus, and the stare of a goanna. I find myself in uncomfortable territory, complicit in the actions of my settler relatives in this region of Central Queensland, but to not examine this informal archive of possession feels like a lie. The stories that shape me begin with the tales of Mum’s foster-mother, my great-aunt, about the dreadful murderous harms done during the early settler occupation of Jiman Country. My family’s later deployment of this stolen land is a related act of war. I see a related mode of violence in tales of terrified cattle in nearby Wulli Wulli Country, Mum’s girl-self perched on the back of a weary horse, whip in her hand. In all this, there is me, telling tales, like settler writers before me, caught in the writing act, exposed as a fence, dealing in stolen goods, part of the ongoing posts of making up and wires of making do. Nonetheless, I take up my extractive blade, sharpened by a field trip to this region, and carve into my family history, with its legacy of generational violence to humans, cows, waterways, and earth, exposing three extractions: the near-genocidal murders of the Jiman and Wulli Wulli people; the ongoing slaughter of cattle; and finally, there, on the kill floor, entrails exposed, the stories of my mother, laid bare for this critical reading.

33. Money laundering (additional chapter)

This chapter discusses the offences in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 which criminalize dealing with the proceeds of crime. These are extremely broad offences with many features which could be characterized as being draconian as successive governments have sought to combat serious crime by targeting not just the offenders (who may commit a money laundering offence in relation to their own criminal conduct), but all those who assist in the disposal of criminal proceeds. These offences have generated a huge volume of case law, much of which has reached the House of Lords and the Supreme Court. This chapter analyses how these offences relate to handling stolen goods.

26. Handling and related offences

This chapter deals with handling of stolen goods and related offences. Under s 22 of the Theft Act 1968, a person who dishonestly receives goods, or dishonestly undertakes or assists in their retention, removal, disposal or realization by or for the benefit of another person, or if he arranges to do so knowing or believing that they are stolen goods, is guilty of the offence of handling stolen goods. English law treats this offence as an independent crime rather than one of being an ‘accessory after the fact’ to theft. The chapter considers the actus reus and mens rea of handling stolen goods, when goods cease to be stolen, handling by omission, the ‘doctrine’ of recent possession, dishonest retention of a wrongful credit, advertising for the return of stolen goods and money laundering.

Analysis on Criminal Governance of Bitcoin-related Corruption Cases

Bitcoin is extremely easy to be used in corruption cases due to its pseudonym, easy circulation, easy cross-border and other characteristics. As a decentralized electronic account book, the circulation of regulatory funds is jointly confirmed by each node in the bitcoin network, which can ensure the authenticity of the criminal evidence and is not easy to be lost or damaged. It provides great convenience for evidence collection in bitcoin corruption cases. However, there are also shackles in criminal governance, such as how to prove the subjective intent of the bribe takers, the impact of fluctuations in market value on the identification of the case and, most importantly, how to effectively recover stolen goods across borders. Therefore, the difficulty of bitcoin-related cases does not lie in the “anonymity” that some scholars believe, but lies in the determination of subjective intent, the determination of the amount of the crime and the international judicial assistance in recovering the stolen money.

14. Further offences under the Theft Acts

Course-focused and contextual, Criminal Law provides a succinct overview of the key areas on the law curriculum balanced with thought-provoking contextual discussion. This chapter discusses the several offences in the Theft Acts 1968 and 1978, including: making off without payment; burglary (including discussion of the key terms ‘entry as a trespasser’, ‘building’, and the ulterior offences); aggravated burglary (burglary committed when the person has with them a firearm or imitation firearm, or offensive weapon); blackmail; handling stolen goods; and dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit. The feature ‘The law in context’ feature examines how burglars are sentenced, including the applicable sentencing guidelines, the evolution of relevant case law, and the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ mandatory sentence.

Illicit Provisioning: Inequality, Leveling, and Black Markets

Throughout the war, the pyramid of the ration system was remade through three illicit practices: self-provisioning, leveling, and theft. Many officials created steep new hierarchies through self-provisioning, establishing elite canteens, stores, and special parcels for themselves and their patronage networks. They also leveled distinctions by redistributing stocks, mainly allocated for workers, to feed vulnerable groups. Finally, large-scale and petty theft was ubiquitous. Shortage created demand for stolen goods, and theft in turn drained the ration system and increased shortage. Gray and black markets sprang up everywhere. Hungry workers, thieves, disabled veterans, and pensioners used markets to trade, supplement their rations, and sell stolen goods. In the absence of retail stores, markets bolstered the ration system by allowing goods to circulate, and destabilized it by providing an outlet for stolen goods. As such, they reduced stocks allocated to ordinary people and forced them to buy back at vast markups what they should have received by right.

Sachfahndung nach einem Raubmord in Saqāwa

This article presents the edition of a late 3rd/9th- or early 4th/10th-century search warrant for stolen goods (P.Cair.EgLib.inv. 536v). The scribe reports that two black men (aswadayn) were traveling on two donkeys, one of which was also loaded with a saddlebag of money, jewellery and clothes. Upon reaching the Upper Egyptian village of Saqāwa, the two black men were assaulted and murdered, and the goods and donkeys stolen. This document corroborates descriptions in historical works of frequent rebel attacks in various regions of Egypt in the 3rd/9th and 4rd/10th centuries.

9. Theft and other property offences

This chapter deals with offences against property, a category of offences that criminalise conduct such as the dishonest taking of another’s property (eg theft, robbery), possessing stolen or criminal property (eg handling stolen goods, money laundering), and damaging another’s property (eg criminal damage, arson). Beyond such crimes, there are also a number of specific technical offences designed to protect particular property rights, such as those relating to vehicle misuse and intellectual and/or digital property. The final sections of the chapter outline potential options for legal reform and the application of property offences within problem questions. Relevant cases are highlighted throughout the chapter, with brief summaries of the main facts and judgments.