Victims of Child Sexual Abuse Can Now Sue the Church
The ‘Ellis defence’ once prevented victims of child sexual abuse from suing unincorporated organisations such as the Catholic Church. But as of 1 January 2019, legislation came into effect which requires those organisations to nominate a defendant with sufficient funds...
High Crimes Rates Deter Residents from Pursuing Opportunities
Researchers out of the University of Colorado have found that high rates of violent crime in the local community can lead to people taking fewer risks, which can in turn reduce their living standards and negatively impact on the local...
Strip Searches: State-Perpetrated Sexual Acts
NSW police use of strip searches hasn’t just risen in recent times, but almost become routine. Over the four years ending in June 2018, its general use rose by 47 percent, while last year, 11 percent of persons in respect...
#MeToo Founder Sued for Defamation
New York based French Journalist Sandra Muller is widely credited for inspiring hundreds of other women in that nation to report being sexually harassed, after she published a Tweet accusing French television executive Eric Brion of making offensive comments towards...
Passive Smoking Defence Exposes Flawed Drug Driving Regime
Magistrate David Heilpern has delivered yet another landmark ruling that reveals the shonky logic underlying the drug driving regime in NSW. The Lismore magistrate accepted last month that a woman tested positive to cannabis because of passive smoking. Nicole Spackman...
Drug Dogs Are No Deterrent & Increase the Harm: An Interview With RMIT’s Dr Peta Malins
These days, commuters alighting the train of an early evening at Sydney’s Central station can be confronted by police with drug dogs. And if a canine makes an indication about one of the citizens on the platform, that individual can...
Mother Imprisoned for Giving Her Kids Sleeping Tablets
An Adelaide mother who gave her children chocolate milk laced with sleeping tablets has been sentenced to a full term of three years in prison with a non-parole period of 15 months. The 47-year old mother of four, whose name...
Continuing Detention Orders in New South Wales
An application has been made to extend the prison sentence of a convicted killer and child sex offender beyond the expiry of his full term of imprisonment. 69-year old former babysitter and gardener Michael Anthony Guider was sentenced to two...
Prisons Should Focus on Treatment Rather than Punishment
A study by researchers from the University of Exeter in England has found that assessing new prison inmates for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and treating those affected can significantly reduce their likelihood of future offending. Source and effect of TBI...
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...
