Authentic peer review in the legal profession is rare. The practice of law can be lonely. Certainly the time spent drafting, reading and preparing is mostly spent in solitude. When it comes to appearances in the Magistrates' Court, it's rare to be accompanied to court by anyone except your client - not always the most …
Month: March 2010
Unlawful assembly requires cooperation, not just togetherness
An offence of violent disorder contrary to s 2(1) of the Public Order Act 1986 (UK) — similar to unlawful assembly, contrary to common law — requires only that three or more people are in the same place at the same time. It's not necessary to prove they deliberately acted in combination with each other.In …
Continue reading Unlawful assembly requires cooperation, not just togetherness
Documents must say something to be hearsay
A document that says nothing — that shows something did not happen — can't be a hearsay document.That's the gist of a decision by the UK's Queen's Bench Division of the High Court in DPP v Leigh [2010] EWHC 345 (Admin). The case isn't on Bailii, but is (for the moment at least) available here …
R v Darmody [2010] VSCA 41: first Court of Appeal decision on Criminal Procedure Act
The Court of Appeal yesterday published its reasons for judgment in R v Darmody [2010] VSCA 41 about:the application of the transitional provisions in the Evidence Act 2008their effect on the Evidence Act 2008the meaning of 'not available to give evidence' in the hearsay exception in s 65 of the Evidence Act 2008the notice requirements …
More free online research resources
A few weeks ago the Department of Justice quietly added a new website to its collection, at http://www.courts.vic.gov.au.It seems to replicate material from the various court-websites and also some content from the main site http://www.justice.vic.gov.au.But, this one has the advantage of combining all court-related information in one place, and logically organised too! Another one for …