Case Thrown Out Due to Illegal Arrest
As previously discussed, courts have the power under section 138 of the Evidence Act 1995 to exclude evidence obtained by police officers in the course of an unlawful arrest. The case of R v William John Bennett (2015) is an...
Pair Accused of Stealing Dying Woman’s Handbag
Police on the Central Coast of NSW have described the alleged act of stealing a handbag from a critically wounded woman as she lay trapped in a car crash as ‘disgusting’. Jason Hall and Silvia Schreuder have appeared at Gosford...
Facebook Faces Legal Action Over Revenge Porn Pic
A landmark decision has ruled that Facebook will have to face legal proceedings by a 14-year old girl whose former partner uploaded her naked photo to a revenge porn site and distributed it on social media. Facebook lost its bid...
Inside the Life of a Barrister: An Interview with Stephen Lawrence
Sydney barrister Stephen Lawrence has had an illustrious career in law. The 41-year-old, who originally hails from the New South Wales town of Griffith, studied law at the Australian National University, before being admitted as a solicitor in 2002. Since...
Mother Accused of Murdering Baby Daughter
Police are still trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the shock finding of a two-year old girl’s body wrapped in a towel in a home in Sydney’s south-west. The girl’s mother faced Penrith Local Court this morning via videolink, charged...
W-18 and Fentanyl – Separating Fact from Fiction
On Monday, Tasmanian police put out a warning about a new synthetic drug - ten thousand times stronger than heroin – that could be coming the Apple Isle’s way. Known as W-18, reports state the drug has already been detected...
New Tenancy Laws Support Domestic Violence Victims
Victims of domestic violence will soon be able to flee their homes faster and without penalty if they need to abandon a private or government tenancy, under new residential tenancy laws. The changes are designed to offer victims better protection...
Indigenous Man Dies After Being Restrained by NSW Prison Guards
On December 29 last year, David Dungay, an Indigenous man from Kempsey in NSW, died in custody at Sydney’s Long Bay Correctional Complex in Matraville. The 26-year-old Dunghutti man was eating biscuits in the prison’s mental health unit, when he...
Interview Ruled Inadmissible After Illegal Arrest
As the name suggests, the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (the LEPRA) sets out many of the rules which apply to police when exercising their powers. Section 99 of the Act lists the circumstances in which police are...
No More Private Prisons in America
The US Department of Justice recently announced plans to phase out private prisons, an initiative now signed-off on by outgoing President Barack Obama. The move means that current private federal prison contracts will not be renewed after they expire, and...
