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 …
Tag: human rights
Bail: how not to do it!
Hat-tip to Stephen Warne for this case from an American Professional Responsibility blog, where a judge was reprimanded for ordering a defendant attend church as a condition of bail, and other conduct held to be misconduct.Here, the primary concern of bail is to ensure an accused person presumed innocent should be permitted remain at liberty …
Revoking implied licence during investigation
Last week the Supreme Court published its decision in Brown v Spectacular Views Pty Ltd & Anor [2011] VSC 197. It dealt with the consequences of law enforcement officers — in that case, Vic Roads officers — who entered private property owned by a company and were told to get out when they were questioning …
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Pretext recording contrary to Charter and Evidence Act?
Edit: While 'pretext' conversations arranged by the police without an appropriate warrant seem likely to be excluded, a staged conversation initiated entirely be a third party (such as a complainant) apprarently does not lead to the same result: F M J v The Queen [2011] VSCA 308.A colleague put me on to a recent case …
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Police v Beukes [2011] SASC 9: intervention order breaches are strict liability offences
In Police v Beukes the Magistrates' Court of South Australia dismissed a charge that alleged an offence under s 15(1) of the Domestic Violence Act 1994 (SA). Section 15(1) reads,(1) A person who contravenes or fails to comply with a domestic violence restraining order or a registered foreign domestic violence restraining order is guilty of …