Dr Nigel Stobbs

Biography

Background Dr Stobbs is a senior lecturer and Director of the Compassion Informed Law Research program at the Queensland University of Technology Faculty of Law and a part-time member of the Queensland Law Reform Commission. Prior to undertaking a full-time academic career, he practiced as a criminal defence barrister at the Queensland Bar between 2001 and 2008.  He has been involved in research and development work in specialist sentencing courts in Australia and the US – particularly drug and alcohol diversion courts and Indigenous sentencing courts.  His main area of research is within the field of Therapeutic Jurisprudence and he is the Australian representative on the Board of Trustees of the International Society of Therapeutic Jurisprudence.  His book Method and Practice of Therapeutic Jurisprudence was published by Carolina Academic Press in April 2019.  He is the co-author of Principles of Sentencing (published by the Federation Press), of Professional Responsibility and Ethics for Qld Lawyers (published by Thomson Reuters) and the author of the Therapeutic Jurisprudence chapters and updates in the Oxford Encyclopedia of International Criminology.

Dr Stobbs is currently working with colleagues from Swinburne University of Technology on projects related to the use of predictive algorithms and machine learning to generate augmented decision making tools for sentencing judges.  Stobbs, N., Bagaric, M., & Hunter, D. (2017). Can sentencing be enhanced by the use of artificial intelligence?. Criminal Law Journal, 41(5), 261-277.

In recent years he has presented on research into sentencing, criminal law and Therapeutic Jurisprudence at international conferences and public lectures in Vienna, London, New York, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Rome, Prague and Washington DC. His other main are of research is the Chinese legal system. In 2017 he was a visiting researcher at Harvard Law School,  translating legal documents of the Tang and Qing Dynasties held in the Harvard-Yenching Library.

Research interests

• Therapeutic Jurisprudence
• Judicial attitudes to artificial intelligence and legal analytics
• Algorithmic sentencing
• Sentencing law and policy
• Specialist criminal courts
• Chinese law and politics

Research funding External

• 2018: Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council - Review of community based sentencing options and parole across jurisdictions  [Qld Department of Justice and Attorney-General] - $34,800.
• 2007 and commencing in 2008: 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) - $542,000
• 2006: Ethics Handbook for Queensland Legal Practitioners. (Professor Stephen Corones, Mr Nigel Stobbs, Mr Mark Thomas), Legal Practitioners Interest on Trust Accounts Fund -$34,980
• 2006: Self-represented Litigants in the Queensland Court of Appeal. (Mr Nigel Stobbs, Mr Mark Thomas), Legal Practitioners Interest on Trust Accounts Fund - $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
• 2007: Public Confidence in Sentencing (Associate Professor Geraldine Mackenzie, Profesor Rod Broadhurst, Mr Nigel Stobbs) – Faculty seed grant for ARC Discovery Grant application - $15,000
• 2006: Developing Multimedia Problem Solving Strategies for Advanced Legal Research. Faculty Teaching and Learning Grant - $3,760.