Australian Body Needed to Investigate Wrongful Convictions
Legal experts have called for the establishment of a new national body to investigate possible wrongful convictions, which would work in a similar way to the review body in the UK. Flinders University law lecturer Bibi Sangha believes such a...
Accused ‘Home Invasion Killer’ Released on Bail
Accused ‘burglar killer’ Ben Batterham says he is ‘very relieved’ to be out of custody, after being granted bail by Magistrate Robert Stone in Newcastle Local Court yesterday. Battherham was granted bail on a $200,000 security. He will need to...
Tough Bail Laws Cause Rise in Imprisonment Rates
New statistics reveal that the adult prison population in NSW grew by a staggering 9% between April 2015 and March 2016, and is now sitting at a record high of 12,390 inmates. While overall crime rates in NSW have fallen,...
Pair Refused Bail on Charges of Financing Terrorism
A 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl were recently arrested in Guildford on charges of financing terrorism. Counter-terrorism police allege that the pair were involved in obtaining money to send overseas to assist ISIS. Police claim the 16-year-old schoolgirl has...
NSW Government’s Attack on Civil Liberties
The New South Wales Government has attracted widespread criticism from civil liberties groups, after passing new ‘anti-protest’ legislation in parliament this week. The new laws, passed on Tuesday, will see increased penalties for protesters at mining and coal-seam gas sites,...
Defendant Appeals Because Lawyer Refused to Make Complainant Cry
A man has attempted to have his conviction overturned because his criminal defence lawyer did not reduce the victim to tears during cross-examination. Francis Kofi Okrah was sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of sexual assault...
Got a Parking Fine: Your Robot Lawyer Can Help!
Coming back to your car to find a parking ticket tucked under the windscreen is frustrating, but thanks to a 19-year-old university student from the UK, appealing parking fines may soon be a whole lot easier - and cheaper. Joshua...
New Rules for Supreme Court Bail Applications
The rules applying to bail have been in a constant state of flux since 2013, when new bail laws were introduced to replace the old Bail Act of 1978. While the old Act was complex, confusing and in some respects...
Would You Rather Be Suspected of a Crime in the US or Australia?
American ‘true crime’ shows often tell stories of defendants getting-off serious criminal charges due to problems with the evidence, or legal ‘loopholes’, or last-minute ‘breakthroughs’ by cunning criminal defence lawyers. Most people are aware that these TV shows aren’t an accurate...
Life Sentences Without Parole: A Violation of Human Rights?
In his research paper from this month’s Human Rights Law Review, Andrew Dyer, a Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney, argues that not having a statutory charter of rights means Australia has been left without...
