Imagine this. Your teenage daughter is at the shopping mall with friends after school. She calls to tell you she is being beaten up. By a grown woman. As the story unfolds, you find out that she and another girl around the same age got into an argument. At some point, the altercation became physical. ...
Category: Public Order Offences
Tasmania to Enact Anti-Consorting Laws
By Zeb Holmes and Ugur Nedim The Tasmanian government is pushing through new legislation to criminalise the act of consorting with those who have ‘served their time’. Restricting associations The proposal would make it a crime for a convicted offender to associate with with another within five years of being given an official warning notice. ...
Government Promises Not to Abuse its New Powers
By Zeb Holmes and Ugur Nedim Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter is adamant that neither the current nor any future government would ever use the proposed expanded Defence Act powers to call on the defence force for domestic purposes. The Defence Amendment (Call out of the Australian Defence Force) Bill 2018 was introduced into Federal Parliament ...
12 Reasons to Choose Sydney Criminal Lawyers®
Being prosecuted for a criminal or traffic offence can be a nerve-wracking experience. You may be unfamiliar with the process, unsure of the best way forward and concerned about the outcome. But whether you are charged with a less-serious matter such as drug possession, drink driving or common assault, or accused of something as serious ...
NSW Police Crackdown is Devastating the Nimbin Community
NSW police carried out a series of six raids in Nimbin and Lismore on June 28 last year. A total of eleven men between the ages of 21 and 35 were arrested and charged with supplying marijuana. These men are known locally as the Lane Boys, as they used to frequent Rainbow Lane. In early September last ...
Police Want Lockout Laws Across the State
By Sonia Hickey and Ugur Nedim The NSW lockout laws were hailed a success at the end of last year, with data suggesting the clamp-down on bars and nightclubs has reduced violence in the city centre and Kings Cross precinct by as much as 40%. However, protests by affected businesses and an independent review led ...
NSW Court Rules that Identification Based Partly on a Media Report is Admissible
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim A riot broke out in the Fowler Compound of Villawood Detention Centre on April 20, 2011. What initially began as a rooftop protest against conditions in the centre by a handful of detainees, soon escalated into a chaotic disturbance involving about 100 asylum seekers. Around 11 to 13 men climbed ...
Motorcycle Club Member in Court Over Brawl
A high-ranking motorcycle club member is facing court after a brawl at Wallsend in the Hunter Valley just before Christmas – and police are talking tough, promising to crackdown on club members in the region. Police attended the scene on December 9, where they say a group of men were fighting with weapons including a ...
Legalise It: An interview with Australian Hemp Party President Michael Balderstone
It’s been a big year for marijuana in Australia. In February, federal parliament passed the Narcotic Drugs Amendment Bill 2016 allowing for the legal cultivation, manufacture and distribution of medicinal cannabis. Under the new system – which came into effect on October 30 – businesses can apply for a licence to grow the plant for medicinal purposes. ...
Violence in Sport: What Does the Law Say?
It seems like a week doesn’t go by without a footy player being in the media spotlight for a criminal offence – whether ‘recreational’ drug use, a nightclub brawl, or even worse, domestic violence. Believe it or not, many footballers have even committed crimes in front of your very eyes! You may have even cheered ...