Most advocates who deal with drink-driving offences will know of DPP v Moore (2003) 6 VR 430, where the Court of Appeal held the then public-policy discretion, or the unfairness discretion, could be used to exclude a result of a breathalyser test if the accused person was talked out of or denied a subsequent blood …
Continue reading Douglas v Police [2011] SASC 50: Practical application of DPP v Moore?
We don't get very many appellate decisions on the Confiscation Act 1997, and even fewer from the Court of Appeal.DPP v Twenty Fourth Trengganu Pty Ltd [2011] VSCA 92 was delivered by the Court of Appeal earlier this week. The company Twenty Fourth Trengganu Pty Ltd applied to exclude a car from being restrained for …
Continue reading Sing a song of sixpence? DPP v Twenty Fourth Trengganu Pty Ltd [2011] VSCA 92
The Crimes Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2011 was in the media a bit last week. The Introductory Print is here. The Explanatory Memorandum is here. The Statement of Compatibility is here and the Second Reading is here.The Bill adds definitions to the Crimes Act 1958, the Stalking Intervention Orders Act 2008 and the Personal Safety Intervention …
Continue reading Legislation Watch: Crimes Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2011
Edit: For another perspective, here's an opinion piece written by the man who was responsible for choosing Michael Kirby for the job, former Attorney-General Michael Lavarch, writing in The Australian when Kirby stepped down in 2009. It's not very well-written but it does remark on some of the Great Dissenter's judicial accomplishments.Former Puisne High Court …
The High Court's decision in Miller v Miller raises again the general question of the ability of a party to a joint criminal enterprise to sue another party to the caper. The decision undoes the inflexible approach of previous unaninimous High Court decisions (Smith v Jenkins and Gala v Preston) that one illegal user of …
Continue reading Miller v Miller [2011] HCA 9: Drink, drive, bloody negligent?