DPP v Batich [2013] VSCA 53 considered a County Court case where the sentencing judge held he should refer an offence of glassing, charged as recklessly causing serious injury, back to the Magistrates' Court.Some indictable offences can be determined summarily, that is, before a court of summary jurisdiction, or before a trial court on indictment (Our …
Continue reading DPP v Batich [2013] VSCA 53 — summary determination of charges
Edit: Austlii now has R v Chaouk online.Today in R v Chaouk [2013] VSCA 99, the Court of Appeal rejected an application by the DPP to appeal Justice Lasry's decision in February to stay a murder trial until VLA agreed to fund an instructing solicitor.The original decision was R v Chaouk [2013] VSC 48. That decision …
I noticed the other day that one reader was following the Advocacy Teaching Blog. I hadn't seen it before, and I'm not sure how long it's been going, but there's already a wealth of information there.It's administered by Assoc Prof Chris Behan (Southern Illinois University School of Law), Prof Charles H. Rose III (Stetson University …
Parliament introduced the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 last week.Part 6 of the Bill introduces perhaps the most significant amendment. It will overcome the effect of the decision in Brittain v Mansour [2013] VSC 50. That was the case which held charitable donations and the like were not valid as special conditions of adjourned undertakings imposed under …
Continue reading Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2013: donations again available for undertakings
For many months now I've been meaning to do a short screen cast reviewing ProView on the iPad, as a follow-on from my review last year about LexisNexis's eBooks on Bluefire Reader. (Sadly, nothing's improved there, and they're still not as satisfactory as they could be.)Easter provided a brief opportunity, so here's my short review …