By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Section 21A of the NSW Crimes (Sentencing Procedures) Act 1999 acts as a checklist of aggravating and mitigating factors which a sentencing court must take into account if they are “relevant and known to the court.” Mitigating factors – which can lead to a reduced penalty – include whether the… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim At around 11pm on 30 June 2000, David Spicer was stopped for a random breath test on Devlin Road in Londonderry, north western Sydney. The 42-year-old man got out of his car and produced his driver licence. The result of the breath test was negative. On being questioned about the… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim It was just before 9am on 26 October 2013, when 52-year old Peter Hayek pushed open the unlocked door of Sydney Cove Chemist at The Rocks and made his way into the dispensary. The lights were off, and employee Ms Gao was nowhere to be seen, although her handbag… Read more »
Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are significantly over-represented in the Australian prison system, with incarceration rates that are 14 times higher than non-Indigenous people. The Indigenous imprisonment rate in Australia is the highest in the world. First Nations peoples made up 27 percent of the nation’s adult prison population as of June… Read more »
By Blake O’Connor and Ugur Nedim A controversial NSW District Court judge has been sternly rebuked by many, including his fellow judges, for reading a judgement aloud in court over a three and a half day period, rather than simply handing it down in writing. The judge’s actions have cost the parties and taxpayers many… Read more »
By Kieran Adair and Ugur Nedim People who are sent to court are supposed to be entitled to a fair hearing, regardless of the magistrate or judge’s mood, or their personal opinions or prejudices. But unfortunately, this isn’t always the case in our busy court system. While it is often possible to appeal unfair rulings… Read more »
For hundreds of years, juries in NSW criminal trials were required to return ‘unanimous’ verdicts of either guilty or not guilty, in order for an accused person to be convicted or acquitted of a crime. This meant that all 12 members of the jury had to reach the same conclusion about whether the prosecution had… Read more »
The remaining council merger plans of the the NSW government have been thrown into question after the NSW Supreme Court ruled that the process did not accord with procedural fairness. The Ku-ring-gai council has won its appeal against a proposed merger with Hornsby Council, with the court criticising the secrecy of the process. The ruling casts… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Jacob Holland entered the house of a neighbour in Coffs Harbour on November 9 2014. The 21-year-old man had never been to the residence before, nor did he know the family who lived there. He made his way in through a backdoor that had a faulty lock, and was… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Australian attorney-general George Brandis rushed a bill through the House of Representatives on February 16 to amend native title laws. If passed by the Senate, it will reverse the impact that a recent Federal Court ruling will have on past and future Indigenous land use agreements (ILUAs). The Noongar native title… Read more »
