The Duty of Disclosure in Criminal Cases
Under both the common law and professional conduct rules, Australian prosecutors are required to serve upon the defence all material in their possession that is relevant to determining the guilt or innocence of the defendant. That requirement extends to material...
What are the Penalties in the Children’s Court?
The age of criminal responsibility in New South Wales is currently 10 years, which means children who are 10 years and older can be charged with a criminal offence and sent to court. Those under the age of 18 are...
Peter Dutton’s Office Under Investigation
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is investigating the Home Affairs Department over allegations it leaked material regarding Peter Dutton’s visa grants to two au pairs. The AFP was put on high alert about a month ago, when several emails were...
Anti-Fake News Laws: Preventing Misinformation or Silencing Dissent?
Fake news is a fairly recent concept that has accompanied the rise of social media. And concerns about the spread of false information have become more intense following allegations of the Russian use of misinformation to influence the 2016 US elections...
Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 8 to 14 October 2018
In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: What is White Collar Crime? White collar crime spans a range of criminal offences and is becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s digitised society. Click here...
Church-led Coalition Calls for Drug Decriminalisation
On Friday morning, Sir Richard Branson launched Uniting’s Fair Treatment campaign at Sydney Town Hall. The well-known drug reform advocate threw his support behind the campaign that’s pushing for the decriminalisation of the possession of drugs for personal use, as well as...
Victoria Increases Police Powers and Removes Legal Safeguards
The recent weeks, the bulk of Victoria’s Justice Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill 2018 has been enacted, which the state government claims will better protect the community against the threat of terrorism. The changes include new powers for police to detain...
Socially Progressive, Economically Sensible: An Interview with Independent, Dr Kerryn Phelps
Dr Kerryn Phelps recently called on prime minister Scott Morrison to release the final report of the Ruddock review on religious freedoms prior to next week’s Wentworth byelection, in which she’s running as an independent. Now that hasn’t happened. But, what...
Australia’s First Cannabis Medicine: An Interview With Little Green Pharma’s Fleta Solomon
Locally-grown and produced medicinal cannabis products are finally available on the Australian market. Western Australian company Little Green Pharma is the first amongst a number of producers to deliver the long-awaited local product since cannabis medicines were legalised. However, this...
Justice Reinvestment Helps Reduce Crime in Bourke
Focusing on community-based crime prevention initiatives through the ‘justice reinvestment’ program has seen crime rates plummet over the past five years in the far western New South Wales town of Bourke. The success further bolsters the argument that investing in...
