New Chief Judge Appointed to NSW District Court
Like the rest of the legal community, I am saddened by the retirement of Chief District Court of NSW Judge Reginald Blanch AM who will be stepping-down on 7th August 2014. Justice Blanch is respected by members of the legal...
A New Trial in Lithgow Jail to Cut Prison Crime
This month in the Sydney District Court, Bassam Hamzy pleaded guilty to the kidnapping of John Baroutas back in 2008 as well as supplying a commercial quantity of drugs and other offences. But the most astonishing thing is that he...
DPP v Mathews-Hunter
Although police powers have been increasing in legislation, the judges are still firmly upholding fundamental common law rights in the courtroom. Just ask Mathews-Hunter, an eighteen year old who was recently in front of the NSW Supreme Court, after being...
Sale of E-Cigarettes Declared Illegal in WA
Western Australia is the first state in the country to ban the sale of e-cigarettes, even though it is still legal to sell and purchase ordinary tobacco products. In a recent landmark ruling, Perth e-cigarette seller Vince Van Heerden was...
Queensland Police Make First Bitcoin Arrest
A man has been arrested in Queensland in what is believed to be the first bitcoin-related arrest in the state. 21-year-old Shane Duffy of Kingaroy, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, has been charged with possessing tainted property. Police allege some of...
Body Cams a Win for the Police and the Public
NSW Police officers are to be equipped with “body cams”, lightweight video cameras that are clipped to officers’ uniforms when they are dealing with the public. This new initiative was announced recently by the NSW Government, and is expected to roll out...
The $7m Insider Trading Sting: Should Police Have Stopped It?
The Australia Federal Police (AFP) recently arrested a banker from Melbourne in an insider trading sting that resulted in $7 million in assets being seized. So what is insider trading? Exactly what happened in this case? And should authorities have intervened earlier...
The Innocence Project Australia
Over the past few decades the Innocence Project has highlighted problems in the justice system in the US, which can allow for wrongful convictions. One American man, (although not acquitted with the Innocence Project) Jonathon Fleming, spent 25 years in...
Should the Trials Have Been Separated in the Hughes Case?
There has been a lot of attention surrounding the trial and conviction of Australian TV star Robert Hughes, who played the father in the 1980s sitcom Hey Dad! Hughes was recently found guilty of 10 child sex offences dating back to the...
Was resignation O’Farrells only option?
Recent events have shown that neither side of politics is immune from the clutches of ICAC. Just over a week ago, the revelation came that, despite his denials, O’Farrell had indeed received a bottle of Penfolds wine worth $3,000 –...
