Drug Decriminalisation for the ACT: An Interview With Labor MLA Michael Pettersson
Led by the Uniting Church Synod of NSW/ACT, Fair Treatment has been calling on the jurisdictions of NSW and the ACT to decriminalise drug use and personal possession since late 2018. This health-based campaign has the backing of over 60...
LECC Calls on Parliament to Review NSW Police Strip Search Protocols
The “recurrent issue” this state’s independent police watchdog found during the seven investigations into NSW police use of strip searches is that officers are failing to comply with the “legal thresholds for conducting a strip search”. Released on 15 December,...
A Violation of Civil Liberties: NSWCCL’s Elizabeth Htwe on Criminalising Drug Use
Since the drug-related deaths of two young Australians at the Sydney Defqon.1 festival in September 2018, the NSW Liberal Nationals government has understood that this state’s current approach to illicit substances isn’t working. Indeed, by the end of that music...
Police Accused of Revenue Raising Over Mobile Phone Fines
In a year when we all need compassion more than anything else, police around Australia have shown very little of it. No one is suggesting they haven’t had a challenging time enforcing ever-changing pandemic-related health regulations, but New South Wales...
The NSW Offence of Carrying a Knife or Blade in a Public Place or School
Police have reported having arrested 140 people on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 December 2020 and charged them with various criminal offences, as part of a police blitz on Sydney streets labelled ‘Operation Saber IV’. It’s the fourth time a...
Morrison and the Prosperity Gospel: License to Torture Refugees and Damn the Poor
During his 2008 maiden speech in parliament, our PM Scott Morrison repeatedly referenced his Christian faith, even going as far as to invoke Jeremiah chapter 9:24: “I am the Lord who exercises loving-kindness, justice and righteousness on Earth for I...
Police Seek to Justify Their Latest Fatal Shooting
The Ethical Standards Command and the Crime and Corruption Commission is investigating the shooting of a young man by Queensland Police. Twenty-two-year old Raghe Mohamed Abdi was walking along the Logan motorway, last Thursday morning. Police had been called to...
The Increasing Militarisation of the NSW Police Force
Most of us have noticed it, the ever-increasing beefing up of NSW police. There’s the fortified appearance, the enhanced weaponry and the broadening of powers to the point that those on the beat look more like members of an occupying...
What Happens if a Jury Cannot Reach a Unanimous Verdict in NSW?
A jury of 11 will recommence deliberations in Downing Centre District Court today, after returning not guilty verdicts for five out of 26 criminal charges during deliberations after the trial of former Sydney swimming coach Kyle Daniels. Mr Daniels pleaded...
Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 14 to 20 December 2020
In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: No More Drug War Demands Sydney, as Berejiklian Drags Her Feet on Solutions Yesterday’s rally demanded that the NSW state government discontinue its futile and...
