Edit: The decision was affirmed on appeal.You can read our discussion about DPP v Hamilton [2011] VSC 598 here.Not the offence of resisting police, anyway. Thanks to Jeremy Gans for letting me know about this pending appeal.In Hemingway v Hamilton [2011] VMC 10 it was alleged that the accused had left a restaurant without paying …
Month: November 2011
Making the punishment fit the crime
Duplicity occurs where one charge alleges more than one offence. Double punishment occurs where two (or more) offences describe the same act. Both are errors in legal drafting that can result from trying to apply neat legal theory to untidy real life events.Since duplicity and this particular sub-set of double jeopardy involve matters of fact …
Considering pending legislation
I just came across this interesting little tidbit about statutory interpretation: in Campbell v Employers Mutual Ltd and Others [2011] 110 SASR 57 the Full Court of the South Australian Supreme Court held that courts can and should take into account enacted legislative amendments that had not yet commenced. The particular references are at [68] …
Sometimes; I swear…DPP v Marijancevic; DPP v Preece; DPP v Preece [2011] VSCA 355
You probably read the recent news about the bombshell discovery in a County Court trial that the deponent of an affidavit for several search warrants didn't actually swear the affidavit.The trial judge decided the evidence consequently obtained from the search warrants should not be received in evidence under Evidence Act 2008 s 138. Because the …
Continue reading Sometimes; I swear…DPP v Marijancevic; DPP v Preece; DPP v Preece [2011] VSCA 355
Legislation Watch: Criminal Procedure Amendment (Double Jeopardy and Other Matters) Bill 2011
The Criminal Procedure Amendment (Double Jeopardy and Other Matters) Bill 2011 had its second reading last Wednesday. The speech is here. The Bill itself is here and its Explanatory Memorandum is here.Double jeopardyThe most attention-getting aspect of the Bill is the proposal to reform double jeopardy. That's the kind that arises from being presented for …