Paying Compensation for Crimes: Restitution, Reparation and Victims Compensation
For those who plead guilty or are found guilty of a criminal offence, the next step is the sentencing date - which is where the magistrate or judge decides the appropriate penalty. Defendants obviously want the best possible outcome when...
Dogs Die in Hot Cars: The Need for Better Laws
You wouldn’t do it to your child - so why do it to your pet? This is the argument that animal rights advocates have put forth in a bid to criminalise the act of leaving pets unattended inside locked cars....
Teaching About Encryption to be Made Illegal
What does the Defence Trade Controls Act have to do with education and research? Quite a lot, under laws due to come into force next year. The Defence and Strategic Goods List (DSGL) is a compilation of technologies and goods...
The Dangers of Joyriding
The offence of larceny, or theft, requires an element of intention to permanently deprive the owner of the item. So is it still stealing if you were just borrowing the item? ‘Joyriding’ is where a car is taken and driven...
Arrested for ‘Man-Spreading’
For many of us, public transport is a convenient and relatively affordable way to travel. But those who don’t follow rules of common courtesy on trains and buses can be a source of annoyance for some passengers. The selfish habit...
Common Myths about ‘Section 10 Dismissals and Conditional Release Orders’
In NSW, non conviction orders are sometimes seen as a ‘second chance’ for people who are generally law-abiding citizens that ‘slip-up’ by committing relatively minor criminal offences. Getting a section 10 dismissal or conditional release order can help to avoid the potentially career-ending...
Should Those with Criminal Records be Allowed to Become Teachers?
Can someone become a teacher with a criminal record? Like many legal questions, the short answer is: it depends. Many of us have made mistakes over the years, but what if one mistake could mean you were now ineligible for...
Would You Pay Someone to Take on Your Demerit Points?
Social media reaches into almost every aspect of our lives these days, and it has proven to be both useful and dangerous. It offers a great deal of convenience, but at the same time it has the potential to land...
Should the Child Sex Offender Register be Made Public?
For some people, no level of restrictions on those who have committed child sex offences can be too much. Many call for convicted child sex offenders to be shamed and persecuted for life, or worse. But while public safety is...
Do I have to turn up to court if I’m pleading guilty?
Several people have recently informed our firm that they took the advice of police and filled out the back of their little yellow ‘court attendance notice’ (CAN), indicated a plea of guilty, then sent it to court only to later...
