Chief Magistrate calls for review of police prosecutors

The Age reported two days ago that Chief Magistrate Ian Gray suggested reviewing police acting as prosecutors in the Magistrates' Court (and presumably also the Children's Court). Assuming he was quoted accurately, what the Chief Magistrate said was genuine independence from investigating police was a problem, and also that police aren't trained or resource adequately …

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I now declare thee road and highway: Clarence City Council v Howlin [2012] TASSC 26

Clarence City Council v Howlin [2012] TASSC 26 case caught my eye because it contains a detailed history of the common law about declaring highways. It was a case dealing with subdivision of land, affected by whether a road out the front of land was a highway or a mere carriageway.I confess I was completely …

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Grozdanov v The Queen [2012] VSCA 94: the meaning of cultivate

Cultivation is a term that is frequently used when referring to the growing of cannabis plants. In general terms, what amounts to cultivation is a question of fact for a jury. However, there is also the threshold question of whether an act or series of acts is capable of amounting to cultivation at law.Section 70 …

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Brandishing the 'Sword of Damocles'

An offender who receives a suspended sentence imposed under s 27 of the Sentencing Act 1991 has to serve the sentence or part sentence held in suspense if he or she is ordered to do so under s 83AR.Section 83AR(2) reads,(2) Despite anything to the contrary in subsection (1), if the court finds the offender …

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Brandishing the ‘Sword of Damocles’

An offender who receives a suspended sentence imposed under s 27 of the Sentencing Act 1991 has to serve the sentence or part sentence held in suspense if he or she is ordered to do so under s 83AR.Section 83AR(2) reads,(2) Despite anything to the contrary in subsection (1), if the court finds the offender …

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