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Criminal Defence / Criminal Law / Practice and Procedure
by Sandy A · Published Updated May 25, 2022
Defence of Impossibility If your response to a criminal allegation against you is ‘but that’s impossible!’, you may be able to raise the defence of impossibility to either have your charge(s) withdrawn or be found not guilty. Fact finders in...
Restraining Orders Under the Victorian Confiscation Act Confiscation consequences are an often-overlooked aspect of criminal law proceedings. However, it is very important to consider them as they can result in the permanent loss of your property or someone else’s. Orders...
Australian Defence Lawyers Alliance / Criminal Law / Evidence
by Sandy A · Published Updated April 6, 2022
Expert Evidence The Honourable Peter Davis, QC, Justice of the Supreme Court in Queensland and Joshua Jones, a barrister at the Queensland Bar, gave an engaging seminar on expert evidence at the Australian Defence Lawyers Alliance (ADLA) recently. Expert evidence...
Contested Summary Hearings: Procedure and Role of Counsel Pleading not guilty to a criminal charge is a right afforded to every person in our community. A person charged with committing a crime is entitled to plead not guilty no matter...
Criminal Defence / Criminal Law / Practice and Procedure
by Sandy A · Published Updated February 16, 2022 · Last modified Updated February 17, 2022
Defence of Honest and Reasonable Mistake of Fact: What is it and When Does it Apply? When is the defence available? The defence of honest and reasonable mistake of fact is available in strict liability offences. A strict liability offence...
Criminal Law / Criminal Offence / Practice and Procedure
by Sandy A · Published Updated February 2, 2022
Assault and Affray No doubt you would have seen in the news recently that people protesting against COVID-19-related restrictions have been charged with several different types of assault. You might be wondering why this is and more importantly, does this...
Criminal Defence / Criminal Law / Practice and Procedure
by Sandy A · Published Updated January 27, 2022
Claim of Right The courts are full of cases where someone is said to have taken another’s property or money. They range from lower level shop thefts, right through to large scale financial fraud involving millions of dollars. These types...
Criminal Defence / Criminal Justice / Criminal Law
by Sandy A · Published Updated January 20, 2022 · Last modified Updated January 25, 2022
Charges That are Statute Barred An important deadline for police to meet, and for people charged to look out for, is the date charges must be laid by. If police miss the deadline, the accused person has the defence that...
Court Process / Criminal Law / Practice and Procedure
by Sandy A · Published Updated October 20, 2021
Getting Charges Withdrawn in the Magistrates’ Court Having charges dropped doesn’t just happen in the movies. There are several ways to have your charges withdrawn which might result your case being over entirely. The only way to have charges withdrawn...
Court Process / Criminal Law / Practice and Procedure
by Sandy A · Published Updated August 31, 2021 · Last modified Updated February 24, 2022
What is a Contest Mention? You may have heard your lawyer refer to your matter ‘proceeding to contest mention hearing’. A ‘summary contest’ is what we call a ‘trial’ in the Magistrates’ Court. The summary contest is heard by a...
