Author adminPosted on Categories Criminal law, Evidence, Liberty Leave a comment on Failure to appear conviction quashed on appeal
It is a criminal offence for a Defendant in criminal proceedings to fail to appear in court unless they have a reasonable excuse to do so. A recent case which resulted in an acquittal of such a charge sheds light on the meaning of reasonable excuse for the purposes of s33 of the Bail Act 1980 (Qld).
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Author adminPosted on Categories Criminal law Leave a comment on Legal Aid Funding for Co-Accused Representation Policy Changed in Aftermath of Decision in R v Pham
The matter concerned drug trafficking charges involving 3 co-defendants, including Mr Pham. Legal Aid provided the funding to private lawyers to represent the 3 co-accused at the trial. The co-defendants were all represented by the same firm of solicitors, although not by the same individual solicitors from within that firm.
At trial, one of Mr Pham’s co-defendants gave evidence that implicated Mr Pham in the drug-trafficking crime. Mr Pham did not give nor call any evidence, and relied solely on the evidence given by that co-defendant for his own defence.
Mr Pham was convicted of the drug-trafficking offence as a result of that trial. In making this appeal, Mr Pham alleged that the solicitors representing the co-defendants had failed to advise him about the content of this evidence before the trial. Mr Pham further alleged that this failure allowed him to be inculpated without being afforded the opportunity to explain himself, and that as a result he did not have a fair trial.
Author adminPosted on Categories civil litigation, Evidence, Industrial relations, Negligence, Personal Injury 1 Comment on Lorna Jane’s comprehensive court win
Amy Louise Robinson was employed by activewear company Lorna Jane Pty Ltd between July and December 2012 as manager of Lorna Jane’s DFO store at Skygate near Brisbane Airport.
Ms Robinson claimed to have suffered a psychiatric injury from workplace bullying by Megan McCarthy (Lorna Jane’s learning and development manager) and haemorrhoids when lifting and moving heavy boxes of stock during the course of her employment.
Vicarious liability is a common law principle which imposes liability despite the employer’s not itself being at fault. The claim for psychiatric injury alleged that Lorna Jane was vicariously liable for the actions of McCarthy and also that an email from a former DFO store employee named Ms Maninnen which alleged ill-treatment of Robinson by McCarthy had put the company ‘on notice’ and that it had subsequently failed to investigate.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Human rights, Judiciary, Liberty 4 Comments on Identity politics, political correctness and section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act
On 4 November 2016, Judge Jarrett of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia dismissed a claim brought by Cindy Prior under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) as a result of posts published on Facebook by students at the Queensland University of Technology that complained of being kicked out of an ‘Indigenous only’ computer lab. This ends a 3 year long legal saga and ordeal for the students concerned.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Family law Leave a comment on Things to do when you separate from your partner
Have you just separated? Are you thinking of separating? If so, here is a list of useful things to do as soon as you can.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Evidence, Judiciary Leave a comment on How to be an impressive witness in court
Witnesses are usually assessed according to their credibility and reliability.
In cases where there are disputes of fact, the performance of the relevant witnesses will be critical, as the case is likely to be determined according to which witnesses are believed and which are not.
This article discusses dome of the do’s and don’ts involved in giving evidence at a hearing.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation, Legal profession, Professional negligence Leave a comment on Labor MP sued for sliming student
Labor Member for the federal seat of Griffith Terri Butler is being sued by one of the university students involved in the infamous case of the Facebook posts which resulted in legal action by a former administrative officer of the University of Technology (QUT) named Cindy Prior.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Criminal law, Domestic violence, Terrorism Leave a comment on Why the girlfriend of Man Haron Monis was convicted of murder
Amirah Droudis, the girlfriend of Lindt siege gunman Man Haron Monis and formerly named Anastasia Droudis, was yesterday convicted (ie found guilty) of the murder of the ex-wife of Monis.
The written judgment of Justice Johnson, delivered after a judge-only trial (due to adverse pre-trial media publicity), is particularly long and detailed. It goes into significant aspects of Monis’ life story because Droudis was intimately involved in them.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Bill of Rights, Human rights, Judiciary 1 Comment on Response to invitations for submissions concerning a Bill of Rights in Australia
To: The Human Rights Working Group
Queensland Law Society
RE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS ON A BILL OF RIGHTS
Dear Sir/Madam,
We refer to the invitations for submissions concerning a Bill of Rights in Australia in the February 2016 edition of Proctor.
We write to voice our opposition to a Bill of Rights, for the reasons below.
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