By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim The NSW government announced on 17 June that it will be expanding the Drug Court program out to the central northern NSW city of Dubbo. The project involves a $27.9 million investment over four years, which will see the facility start operating at the site of the Dubbo courthouse… Read more »
NSW Courts Articles
Prosecution Must Exclude Any Reasonable Hypothesis Consistent with Innocence in Circumstantial Cases
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Just after 9 pm on 30 December 2016, some teenagers appeared on the balcony of a Pennant Hills unit occupied by Simon Krisenthal and Mark Wordsworth. The teens entered via a staircase leading up from a back street, Pennicook Lane, to the second floor apartment that sits above a… Read more »
Arrested for Political Satire: The Contentious Charging of the Friendlyjordies Producer
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim The arrest of YouTube channel Friendlyjordies producer Kristo Langker has raised widespread condemnation for what many are asserting was a politically motivated act of police overreach on the part of plainclothes officers. Three detectives from the NSW Police Fixated Persons Investigations Unit showed up at Langker’s front door to… Read more »
Federal Court Labels Illegal Robodebt Extortion Scheme a “Massive… Stuff-Up”
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim In his 11 June ruling on the class action taken against the Coalition government’s Centrelink robodebt scheme, Federal Court Justice Bernard Murphy said that rather than “a conspiracy”, he found the unlawful automated debt collection initiative to be “a stuff-up”, albeit “a massive one”. Initiated by then social services… Read more »
The NSW Police State Laws Paving the Way for One Nation Measures
Cancel culture is the practice of boycotting a well-known personality or company for espousing objectionable or offensive views. NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham has a special aversion to this emerging trend, which he perceives as a threat to freedom of speech. “This is anti-intellectualism at its core,” Latham told the Bolt Report mid-last year…. Read more »
NSW Barrister Reprimanded for Sexually Harassing Junior Solicitor
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 5 June 2017, junior solicitor Ms X was seated in a conference room at the NSW Supreme Court, looking visibly distraught after having spoken to the court registrar in regard to a further delay in proceedings due to matters relating to her client. At that point, barrister David… Read more »
What Are Police Powers in NSW?
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 6 June 2001, then NSW police minister Paul Whelan announced that an exposure draft of a bill that consolidated most state police powers was about to be released. This legislation would also soon incorporate new law enforcement powers to “crack down on drug dealing in Cabramatta”. Then NSW… Read more »
NSW Barrister Struck Off for Tax Evasion
On 11 October 2012, the NSW Bar Association attached eleven financial management and reporting conditions upon the practising certificate of a NSW barrister to ensure he met his obligations to submit business activity statements and tax returns with the Australian Tax Office. These conditions continued to apply to his practising certificates up until the year… Read more »
Confos v DPP: Balancing Competing Interests When Determining Mental Health Applications
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim At an intersection in Sydney city on 11 October 2003, Anthony Confos sounded his horn to indicate that the taxi driver pulled up in front of him should proceed. But as the taxi remained stationary, Confos drove up beside it, and commenced hurling abuse and gesturing towards the driver…. Read more »
Section 20BQ Applications: Mental Health at Time of Hearing is Relevant, Not When the Alleged Offence Occurred
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Abdelaziz Ali Mahamat-Abdelgader arrived in Australia seeking asylum in June 2012. The citizen of the African nation of Chad was refused immigration clearance at the airport, taken into immigration custody and transferred to Sydney’s Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. Abdelgader applied for a protection visa. He claimed refugee status on… Read more »