Edit: Reference was made to R v Edwards when the Court of Appeal refused to grant a permanent stay in Wells v The Queen [2010] VSCA 100. It was argued that the accused suffered an irreparable forensic disadvantage in defending a charge of culpable driving the vehicle he'd been driving having been scrapped.Ashley JA [beginning …
Continue reading Losing evidence might mean losing the case: R v Edwards
Further Edit: The County Court Practice Direction on communication with associates is here.Edit: Many thanks to Stephen Warne for this post drawing my attention to the Federal Court's decision in John Holland Rail Pty Ltd v Comcare [2011] FCAFC 34 where the Court succinctly stated the relevant principles of ex parte communication [at 12]: 12 …
A few weeks ago I wrote about prosecutors duties on sentencing in light of the Court of Appeal's decision last year in R v MacNeil-Brown [2008] VSCA 190.I wondered if the Court was saying prosecutors should provide submissions on sentencing off their own bat, or only when invited by the Court.Yesterday, the Court of Appeal …
Our (overdue, but still sincere) congratulations to the newest member of the Bar Council of the Victorian Bar.According to a recent In Brief, Brendan Anthony Murphy QC was declared the winner of a Bar Council by-election on 6 May 2009.
Dr Manhattan's post Mistake of fact, or mistake of law? a couple of weeks ago didn't get around to discussing Ostrowski v Palmer (2004) 218 CLR 493; [2004] HCA 30, the High Court decision about the West Australian fisherman who was fishing where he shouldn't have been. There's a limit to how much we can …