The Link between Climate and Crime
A recent United Nations report confirmed what most already know – that more action is required to prevent the catastrophic effects of global warming. Meanwhile, an exhaustive study of crime data over a 10-year period suggests that violent crime and...
Cover Your Cam! Hackers are Demanding Money for Intimate Images
Internet crimes such as accessing computers without authorisation and downloading personal information are on the rise in Australia. They now represent a multi-billion dollar industry, facilitating financial crimes such as credit card fraud and identity theft and enabling domestic violence...
The Influence of the Media on Copycat Crimes
The recent strawberry contamination crisis had a devastating effect on berry farmers across the nation. It appears to have started as a relatively isolated incident, where an individual or small group decided to insert needles into berries from two Queensland...
How are High Court Justices Appointed in Australia?
The Privy Council held the position of the highest level of court in Australia until 1986, when the Australia Act resulted in the cessation of appeals to that Court. Since that time, the High Court of Australia has been the highest...
Diplomatic Immunity is Being Abused Worldwide
The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Arabian embassy in Istanbul, Turkey has triggered debate about the potential for misuse of diplomatic immunity by governments and rogue diplomats. The Khashoggi case Mr Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian national...
Sydney Police Officer Accused of ‘Vile, Cowardly and Intolerable’ Conduct
A Sydney police officer has been charged under the Criminal Code Act 1995 after allegedly threatening a public official in a phone call to Federal Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Ms Hanson-Young says the threats made by the officer were about...
Commonwealth to Strengthen Laws Against Online Bullying
Commonwealth cyberbullying legislation is currently contained in a number of sections of the Criminal Code Act 1995. Section 474.17 of that Act, for example, makes it an offence punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment to use a carriage service...
The Foetal Manslaughter Debate. Should Unborn Babies be Separately Protected?
Currently in New South Wales, a person who destroys a foetus can be charged with causing grievous bodily harm against the mother, but not with a separate crime such as manslaughter or murder against the unborn baby. However, a recent...
The Duty of Disclosure in Criminal Cases
Under both the common law and professional conduct rules, Australian prosecutors are required to serve upon the defence all material in their possession that is relevant to determining the guilt or innocence of the defendant. That requirement extends to material...
Justice Reinvestment Helps Reduce Crime in Bourke
Focusing on community-based crime prevention initiatives through the ‘justice reinvestment’ program has seen crime rates plummet over the past five years in the far western New South Wales town of Bourke. The success further bolsters the argument that investing in...
