NSW Courts Articles

Sentence Quashed After Lawyer Enters Guilty Pleas on Behalf of Client Without Instructions

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Central Coast man Paul Stuart had consumed half a bottle of rum on a friend’s boat on the evening of 20 February 2020, when he called a friend to pick him up. The woman arrived at around 9.30 pm and took Stuart to his Brisbane Water home, where the… Read more »

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Google Not Liable for Providing a Link to a Defamatory Article, High Court Finds

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim In a turnaround to the findings relating to other recent internet publication defamation suits, the majority of the High Court recently found that Google, as respondent, wasn’t the publisher of an article listed in its search engine’s results, but rather the tech giant merely facilitated access to it. Melbourne… Read more »

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NSW Supreme Court Explains Local Court’s 5 Year Limit on Consecutive Prison Sentences

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 22 September 2019, Cody Perrin was arrested on charges of assault and intentionally or recklessly damaging or destroying property in relation to a domestic situation where an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) was in place for the protection of his partner. On 14 January 2020, he was refused… Read more »

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The Offence of Displaying a Nazi Symbol by a Public Act Without Reasonable Excuse

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim The NSW government last Thursday banned the public display of Nazi symbols, including the Hakenkreuz, the Third Reich’s corruption of the ancient swastika, making this state the second jurisdiction nationally to prohibit the insignia associated with antisemitism, racism and genocide. Introduced in late June, the Crimes Amendment (Prohibition on Display of… Read more »

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Defendant’s Perception Is Crucial When Assessing Manslaughter Based on Excessive Self-Defence

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim During Paul Newburn’s 16 December 2020 sentencing hearing, it was an accepted fact that in having fatally stabbed Glen Smith in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Bolton Point in January the year prior, the offender had the intention of causing grievous bodily harm rather than death. Newburn and his… Read more »

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Calls for Comprehensive Rehabilitation Programs, As Intensive Ones Aren’t Reducing Reoffending

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has a set of fourteen priorities, one of which aims to reduce the adult recidivism rate in this state by 5 percent by 2023. The recidivism, or reoffending, rate involves the number of inmates leaving prison and being reconvicted within a certain timeframe. Statistics show that… Read more »

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New Bail Law Requiring Detention Upon Guilty Plea is Impossible to Apply

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim In reaching a decision as to why Titus Day should not be refused bail following conviction, NSW Supreme Court Justice Peter Garling analysed a provision requiring bail to be refused unless there are exceptional or special circumstances in his final findings of 18 July2022, which pointed to the deficiencies of… Read more »

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Intensive Correction, Community Correction and Conditional Release Orders in NSW

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim With the recent rise in climate defenders taking nonviolent direct action in NSW, there are increasing numbers of otherwise law-abiding citizens coming into contact with the criminal justice system, who are most often being sentenced to community-based orders. The imposition of such penalties can be somewhat confusing, especially as… Read more »

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The Mandatory Minimum Should Only Be Applied to the Least Serious Offences

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim NSW police executed a warrant at the home of Enrico Delzotto in the southern NSW town of Mulwala on 1 July 2020. Officers seized the 57-year-old chef’s laptop, tablet and phone, on which, a forensic digital analysis found, there were 2,653 files containing child abuse material. The analysis further… Read more »

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