Rights Abused While in Police Custody
The safety and wellbeing of people being held in police custody is again in the spotlight with shocking allegations emerging that a woman was held for 16 hours at Ballarat police station in regional Victoria, and not provided with any...
Domestic Violence Offenders to Wear Tracking Devices
GPS trackers are becoming an increasingly common tool of law enforcement. They can function both as a punishment as well as a preventative measure against future crimes taking place. They are currently used on those who commit child sex offences...
Cardinal George Pell to Face the Music
Allegations that Cardinal George Pell tried to cover up abuse by bribing a victim to keep quiet have once more been thrust into the spotlight at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Cardinal Pell has strongly...
Law Makes it Tougher to Tap Phones
The ripple effect of the NSW Police phone tapping scandal has widened with the announcement of a new rule surrounding the issuing of warrants for covert surveillance. Under the rule, announced by NSW Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, judges in the...
Human Rights Abuses on Nauru
Nauru: It’s the world’s smallest island nation, but it’s been making headlines in Australia of late. The island is the site of an Australian-run detention centre, which houses approximately 1000 asylum seekers in tent-like facilities. Conditions at the centre have...
Unpopular Queensland Chief Justice Set to Resign
With one fellow judge refusing to sit on cases with him, and another who secretly records a private conversation and embarrassingly reveals his real thoughts, Tim Carmody is not exactly the most popular Chief Justice that Queensland has ever known....
Prisons as Dumping Grounds for the Mentally Ill
The link between mental health and crime has long been established; with inmates around four times more likely to experience mental health issues compared to the general population. Given these statistics, you might think that mental health services are easily...
The title of ‘Queen’s Counsel’ may be reintroduced
The title of ‘Queen’s Counsel’, which was once reserved for the most distinguished barristers in the fraternity, was abolished by the Fahey state government in 1993 and replaced with the title of ‘Senior Counsel’. Some believed that the sudden change...
Will the National Domestic Violence Scheme be Effective?
The death of 11-year-old Victorian boy Luke Batty at the hands of his father in February 2014 highlighted for many the seriousness and the cost of domestic violence, and sparked a national campaign to protect women and children. More than...
Vigilantes Taking the Law Into Their Own Hands
If you’ve ever seen the television drama Dexter, you’d know about Dexter Morgan, a troubled young man who leads a double life - working as a blood splatter analyst with the Miami Police Force by day, and as a vigilante,...
