The Control of Weapons and Firearms Acts Amendment Bill 2011 passed Parliament last month. It received Assent on 20/3/12. It will take effect on the 1st October 2012, unless proclaimed earlier.Its Explanatory Memorandum is here. The Second Reading is here. The Bill describes a new indictable offence in the Control of Weapons Act 1990 prohibiting …
Tag: commentary
Singh v The Queen [2011] VSCA 263: when is a witness available?
DPP v Nicholls [2010] VSC 397 clarified that unavailable in relation to a witness means something more than just not in court. It was already apparent from the definition in the Dictionary of the Evidence Act 2008, but Nicholls confirmed it. What does available mean?Singh v The Queen [2011] VSCA 263 is an interlocutory, mid-trial …
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When or shortly after
Hollingworth J said this in R v McDonald [2011] VSC 241 [at 16 - 18, then 56 and 57],There was a dispute as to whether some of the representations were made “shortly after” the asserted fact occurred.The phrase “shortly after” in s 65(2)(b) does not require the same degree of temporal proximity or contemporaneity as …
Updates to the JCV Sentencing Manual
It's easy to sign up for updates from the Judicial College.If you don't subscribe, the JCV still make it easy to go in and check for recent updates to their major publications. Once inside a Manual look on the right side of the page for a clickable link that says Recent updates. (The Sentencing Manual …
Assault by silence
Some think this notorious UK case was a victory for common sense. Others think it's further evidence of an overly-regulated society. You be the judge.In R v Ireland [1997] 3 WLR 534 the appellant had been convicted of three counts of assault causing actual bodily harm under the Offences against the Person Act 1861.Lord Steyn …