Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Violence Through a New Offence of Coercive Control? The Queensland Experience

Abstract Traditionally, mainstream criminal law discourse has associated domestic violence most closely with physical violence. Feminist jurisprudential approaches, however, have long emphasised coercion and non-physical abuse in domestic violence. The term “coercive control”, developed by Evan Stark in his clinical practice, has led to a growing public and political sentiment that coercive controlling behaviour was an under-recognised precursor to intimate partner violence with associated gaps in the criminal, civil and family law statutes. A stand-alone criminal offence of coercive control was introduced in Queensland, Australia, in 2023. The paper analyses the new offence provisions against a formal rule of law framework, arguing that the offence as drafted offends well-established rule of law principles. It will lead to ambiguity, uncertainty and unpredictability around what does and does not constitute coercive control within a particular relationship and abrogates key evidentiary safeguards that protect an accused’s right to a fair trial. These issues raise important and unanswered questions around how to ensure that the law captures serious instances of coercive control without criminalising behaviour that is fundamentally not criminal.