Country and regional areas have among the highest crime rates in the state – and these figures generally increase during the holiday season as thousands flock to music festivals and family holidays up and down the coast. For that reason, we often see an increase in people coming before country courts in the New Year,… Read more »
The job of a magistrate or judge can’t always be easy; and like anyone else, they can lose their temper from time to time. Here are a few examples: Serial Offender – Magistrate Jennifer Betts Many experienced criminal lawyers in Sydney will be familiar with the courtroom antics of Magistrate Betts, who was ultimately referred… Read more »
We recently wrote a blog about the government’s proposed $20 million cash injection to help clear the backlog of cases waiting to be heard in the NSW District Court. A report by the Audit Office of NSW suggests that this money will be well spent – as holding defendants ‘on remand’ (ie in custody awaiting… Read more »
District Courts across New South Wales have been plagued by ongoing delays, and are currently experiencing a backlog of more than 2,000 cases. With tough new bail laws, this means that more and more defendants are left languishing in prison awaiting trial, while victims have to wait longer to testify in court and put events… Read more »
It seems logical that if two people commit a crime together, they should face the same or similar punishment. However, different sentences can certainly be handed-down on the basis that one of the offenders has a more serious criminal history, or was on bail or a good behaviour bond at the time of the offence,… Read more »
The High Court is the highest judicial court in Australia, and is called upon to decide some of the most important and challenging legal issues that affect our nation. The Justices of the High Court may be called upon to decide questions about a range of legal fields: from taxation law to property, copyright, family,… Read more »
Should a person be prosecuted for past behaviour that is no longer a crime? After all, if society no longer considers the conduct to be deserving of punishment, there is an argument that it is against the public interest to spend community resources on criminal proceedings. This question was explored in the case against former… Read more »
Imagine it’s the day of the court hearing or jury trial and the defendant is nowhere to be found. Or perhaps the proceedings have already started, but the defendant does a ‘runner’ or behaves in such a way that the case cannot keep going with him or her there. In these situations, the court must… Read more »
Many believe that in criminal cases, it is the complainant – or alleged victim – who presses the charges and decides whether the proceedings will continue. But the reality is that in Australia, the State presses and makes decisions about criminal charges – the complainant is merely a witness in the proceedings. During a speech… Read more »
Consistency in sentencing is an important objective of the Australian criminal justice system – after all, it is unfair for some offenders to be given lenient penalties while others are given much harsher sentences for similar crimes. But statistics suggest that the sentences imposed for various Commonwealth offences vary significantly across the country – until… Read more »