Almost two years ago, one of my oldest friends, Bradley L Garrett, boarded a plane at Heathrow airport. As it taxied on the runway, the British Transport Police arrived and dragged him off the plane. He…
A woman alleges she was raped by a man she met at a party. She says he forced his way into her flat after walking her home. He claims she invited him in and that the sex was consensual. There are no witnesses…
Two people have been jailed for making threats and sending abusive messages on Twitter to Caroline Criado-Perez, the feminist campaigner who sought to have a woman put on a British bank note. Isabella…
It’s not often you see bewigged barristers take to the streets waving placards in protest, but such were the scenes outside the Old Bailey and other courts around the country as defence lawyers demonstrated…
A person is wrongly convicted of a serious crime, then fresh evidence reveals they are, in fact, innocent. It’s a thriller movie formula and you’d hope that if this were to happen, justice would prevail…
“This legislation will target only criminal motorcycle gang members. Other law abiding motorbike riders have nothing to worry about,” Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie, press release, October…
There is a good constitutional reason for not allowing politicians to make decisions which result in imprisonment. It’s called the separation of powers and is meant to ensure that politics does not intrude…
Research [published last week](http://www.griffith.edu.au/criminology-law/griffith-law-review/previous-issues/volume-21-number-2](http://www.griffith.edu.au/criminology-law/griffith-law-review/previous-issues/volume-21-number-2…
What is the role of the criminal law? In parts of modern day Asia, the criminal law has had another, more troubling, purpose in addition to convicting murders and rapists: protecting those in authority…
Researchers worldwide have condemned an Italian court’s judgement that six scientists and a government official are guilty of manslaughter for underestimating the risk of an earthquake accurately. The…
The move to dilute the right to silence in NSW is unjust, constitutionally questionable and unnecessary. The O'Farrell government announced a “watering down” of right to silence laws in response to bikie…
Significant questions have been raised over the past three decades, most recently by Victorian Attorney General Robert Clark, as to the benefits of the pre-trial system. In particular, whether having so…
One of the most high profile court decisions on “madness” and crime has concluded. In a unanimous decision, the Oslo District Court in Norway has convicted Anders Behring Breivik of the murder of 77 people…
Murder is the most serious of all violent crimes, and needs a determined criminal justice response. If there are circumstances in which a killing might be seen as wholly or partly excusable, then this…
It is no surprise that Lloyd Rayney has chosen to have a judge sitting alone try the case against him rather than exercising his right to trial before a jury. Past media speculation, the high profile of…
The Azaria Chamberlain case is a reminder that the criminal justice system does get it wrong, with each error bearing its own human cost. On Tuesday, the Northern Territory Coroner’s office concluded an…
The age of criminal responsibility acts as the gateway to the criminal justice system – under a certain age you are kept out. Most jurisdictions have this age barrier because it’s widely understood children…