Courts aim to uphold notions of fairness and equality before the law, and a key part of this is ensuring consistency in sentencing outcomes. To promote consistency, magistrates and judges often have regard to statistics compiled by the Judicial Commission when imposing sentences for certain offences. This data is commonly known as ‘JIRS statistics’. JIRS… Read more »
Faking your own kidnapping or death might seem like the stuff of a Hollywood blockbuster, but over the years there have been several real-life cases of staged crimes orchestrated by cunning fraudsters. Just last week, Chilean woman Maria Olivares Veloso made headlines after she apparently faked her own kidnapping in a desperate bid to extort… Read more »
Circumstantial evidence is evidence which does not directly link a person to a crime, but a particular fact or collection of facts that may infer their guilt. Even innocent people may appear condemned by circumstantial evidence, so is it enough to secure a conviction? Courts have consistently upheld the proposition that circumstantial evidence can be… Read more »
If you plead guilty or are found guilty of a criminal offence in NSW, you will receive a conviction on your criminal record. Criminal offences include such things as assaults and drug supplies, but they also include a range of traffic offences such as drink driving, negligent driving, driving whilst suspended or disqualified, and speeding… Read more »
For years, smoking has become the subject of increasing government regulation – from where you can smoke, to where you can buy cigarettes and even what kind of packaging they can be supplied in. Staggered legislation is squeezing smokers out of an growing number of public places, and in July, the latest in a long… Read more »
The Local Courts have an enormous burden – as well as dealing with small civil claims, all criminal matters start in the local court and the vast majority are finalised there. About 250,000 cases are finalised in the local courts of NSW each year, while more serious offences are sent on to the District Court… Read more »
We all know that drink driving is against the law in NSW – but what about drinking while behind the wheel if you stay below the blood alcohol limit? Drinking alcohol while driving is against the law in NSW – which may not be surprising to most. But this wasn’t always the case: it was… Read more »
Drug importation is one of the most serious crimes in Australia – potentially carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. But how would you feel if you were accused of being a drug smuggler when you didn’t even know that drugs were in your luggage? And perhaps more importantly, are you guilty if you were… Read more »
What would you do if your beloved companion was declared dangerous and you were faced with an over-zealous council determined to putting it to death? Unfortunately, “dangerous dog” laws allow council rangers to do precisely that, leaving dogs locked-up behind bars confused and depressed based upon an allegation alone, and their owners devastated. Dogs that… Read more »
If you hear the words ‘sex offender’, chances are that you will immediately think of a male perpetrator. And the media spotlight has certainly been focused of late on cases involving males arising out of the Royal Commission into Institutional Sexual Abuse. But while the majority of sex offenders are men, it is estimated that… Read more »
