Should Jurors be Informed of a Defendant’s Criminal Record?
The Queensland government is proposing to broaden the situations where fact-finders - such as juries - are permitted to hear about a defendant’s criminal record, in a move which representatives of the legal profession argue will undermine the presumption of...
Paying Cash? You Could End Up In Prison
A proposed new law would make paying more than $10,000 in cash for goods or services a criminal offence. The proposed changes were first announced in the 2018-19 budget, and a draft of the legislation, called the Currency (Restrictions on...
Victoria to Decriminalise Public Drunkenness
The Victorian government has announced it will decriminalise public drunkenness, just days before the CoroniaI Inquest into the death of Indigenous woman Tanya Day. The death of Tanya Day The 55-year old Yorta Yorta woman caught a train from Echuca...
Prosecuting Whistleblower Richard Boyle Is Against the Public Interest
Former ATO officer Richard Boyle will stand trial before a jury in the District Court of South Australia on 66 charges - which carry a total maximum penality of 161 years behind bars - for exposing the tax office misappropriating...
Are There Situations Where a Person Who ‘Confesses’ Should Plead ‘Not Guilty’?
Tim Watkins was only 22 years old when he was left for dead by the side of Wilsons Creek Road earlier this year. He was riding his bicycle home from a mates’ house shortly after midnight on a road he...
Should George Pell Be Defrocked?
Child sexual abuse victims have all eyes on the Vatican, waiting for swift and decisive action by Pope Francis in the wake of George Pell’s failed appeal against his convictions. Unfortunately for them, they could be waiting for some time....
Police Officer Accused of Targeting Critic of ‘Harmful Cult’
South Australian police detective, Eric Walsh, has been accused of leading fellow members of an organisation described as a “socially harmful cult” to have criminal charges brought against a critic. Sergeant Walsh allegedly advised 30 fellow members of the organisation,...
George Pell’s Appeal Against Convictions for Child Sexual Abuse Fails
A majority of a panel of Supreme Court justices has rejected the appeal by George Pell against his convictions for child sexual abuse. The decision means that Mr Pell, who has already spent 24 weeks in prison, has been ordered...
Jock Palfreeman on His Denial of Parole & Rights Advocacy in a Bulgarian Prison
The Sofia City Court denied Jock Palfreeman parole on 17 July. Bulgarian Judge Nikolay Mladenov rejected the Sydney man’s bid for parole, in a decision that many believe was motivated because of his prisoners’ rights advocacy. The 32-year-old Australian is...
Is Adultery Against the Law in Australia?
At his father’s funeral in 2007, Donald Puryear bumped into an old flame - a woman he’d actually once promised to marry. And, in the midst of his grief, there’s no doubt that Donald was probably pretty surprised to see...
