“We Must Speak Out”: Lawyers Are Obliged to Speak Out About Human Rights
Lawyers stand in a unique position. Their training and practice gives them a keen awareness of how the law functions in our daily lives, as well as the likely impacts of any newly-enacted or amended laws. Often, at times when...
Do I Have to Give My Fingerprints if Directed by My Employer?
Who has the right to your biometric data? This is the question that was posed to the Fair Work Tribunal when a worker was fired for not giving his fingerprint to his employer. When his employer demanded his fingerprint as...
The Adani Mine: Morrison, Albanese and the Growing Rebellion
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was completely right last week when she remarked in regard to the Adani mine that “everyone’s had a gutful”. But, most Australians aren’t feeling it in the bend-over-backwards-to secure-the-mine-opens sort of way that she is. The...
Homeless Lives Matter: Governments Must Focus on Charity at Home
A homeless man has been charged with bashing 27-year-old homeless woman Courtney Herron to death in a Melbourne Park over the weekend. Ms Heron, who suffered a mental illness and problems with drugs, had been sleeping rough and couch surfing....
Drug Driving Charges and the Defence of Honest and Reasonable Mistake
A recent decision by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has ruled that drug driving is an absolute liability offence, which means the defence of being honestly and reasonably mistaken about drugs being in the system does not apply to...
The Law and Penalties for Aggravated Sexual Assault in New South Wales
A man who was found guilty by a jury in Downing Centre District Court of multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping and armed robbery has been sentenced to a full term of 38 years in prison with a non-parole...
Torres Strait Takes Australia to UN Over Climate Inaction: An Interview With 350’s Glen Klatovsky
Eight Torres Strait Islander representatives from four different islands lodged an official complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee on 13 May against the Australian government over its complete inaction on climate change, which is threatening their island homes. The...
Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 20 to 26 May 2019
In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: Employee Can be Suspended Pending Outcome of Serious Criminal Charges Rugby league player Jake de Belin has lost his bid for reinstatement pending the outcome...
40 Year Prison Sentence for Australia’s ‘Worst Paedophile’
Ruecha Tokputza has been described in court as “Australia’s worst paedophile”, and has been sentenced to 40 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to 50 charges including having sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 14, engaging in sexual...
Colonising First Nations: From the Killing Times to Reserves to Incarceration
The British colonisation of the continent now referred to as Australia was based on terra nullius, meaning the land was neither owned nor occupied. As the High Court of Australia acknowledged in 1992, this was a lie, which was obvious...
