The debut novels of two forceful, intelligent journalists are bold, brash stories of powerful women at the top of their game. One details a horrific sexual crime, the other ugliness in the art world.
Pell, often described as a conservative Catholic, was jailed for child sexual abuse in Australia in 2019 but maintained his innocence and was acquitted the following year.
A new book by journalist Louise Milligan exposes the brutality of many witnesses’ encounters with the criminal trial process.. It is informed, too, by her own experience of cross-examination.
Pell said after his acquittal he would ‘be very surprised if there’s any bad findings’ in the redacted portions of the royal commission report. This is not the case.
Conviction rates for sexual offences remain low, despite legal reforms in recent years. One reason is the criminal standard of ‘reasonable doubt’ when supporting evidence may be difficult to produce.
This High Court appeal did not ask whether Pell committed the offences. It asked whether the two majority judges in the Victorian Court of Appeal, in dismissing Pell’s earlier appeal, made an error.
Investigative reporter Louise Milligan on Cardinal Pell and redactions in the Royal Commission’s report
The Conversation55.2 MB(download)
When the royal commission handed down its massive report in late 2017, several sections were redacted until after any legal proceedings against Cardinal Pell were concluded.
Pell trial reporters, a judge and a media lawyer on why the suppression order debate is far from over
The Conversation, CC BY79.9 MB(download)
On the day George Pell was sentenced, several experts with wide-ranging experiences of suppression orders discussed how they affect the public’s right to know and whether the laws should be reformed.
A hung jury does not necessarily undermine a verdict in a subsequent trial – it more likely means some of the jurors from the first trial agreed with the final verdict.
George Pell’s conviction has opened a rift in Australian society, with many people questioning the guilty verdict. Pell’s lawyer has said he will appeal. On what grounds could he do that?
Anthony Foster’s attention to detail and his clarity about the evil perpetrated in the systematic institutional abuse of children was often the object of media analysis.