Attorney-General John Quigley has appointed the new Chief Judge of the District Court of Western Australia.
NSW has a “serious and complex” problem with drug usage, leading to a number of young deaths at music festivals and a severe dependency from vulnerable communities – and yet, despite promising to address the issue, the state’s government has rejected major recommendations from its own inquiry.
The Law Council of Australia has welcomed new funding for legal representation so that victims of family violence are not cross-examined by their alleged abusers, but warned that urgent action is needed to fix the broader Family Court funding crisis.
Australian laws that allow 10-year-olds to be arrested, charged, held before the courts and locked away are “out of step” with human rights policies.
Prosecutors have rejected the argument from George Pell’s lawyers that the jury from the first appeal trial should not have watched recorded evidence in their reply submission, adding there are no errors in the Victorian Court of Appeal majority’s judicial method.
A man accused of aggravated assault has been granted a retrial due to the trial judge’s failure to appropriately disclose directions to the jury post-empanelment.
Significant changes to legislation across some Australian states will allow jurors to be informed about a sexual offender’s prior convictions in child sexual abuse trials.
New research has revealed that a “lack of decision-making control” and concerns about remuneration have led to dissatisfaction among non-equity partners.
New Victorian legislation will ensure defendants in minor offences will no longer need to disclose old criminal offences in a move that will help support rehabilitation of people in the community, which comes just as new criminal numbers are released.
Antitrust authorities around the world continue to look into national and international cartels in 2020, with several jurisdictions showing an upturn in the level of fines imposed from 2019-2020.
