The definition of injury provided at s 15 of the Crimes Act 1958 reads,injury includes unconsciousness, hysteria, pain and any substantial impairment of bodily function;It's an inclusive definition. We know that those things referred to are injuries, but we don't know what isn't. Is giving someone a disease (other than one referred to in s …
Tag: judgments
RTF or PDF, please
Supreme Court Practice Note 9 of 2011 was signed last month. It replaces Practice Notes No 3 of 2004 and No 1 of 2006.The Note lends increased legitimacy to medium neutral citations and might even help to reduce the amount of unnecessary photocopying that goes on. It also draws attention to the preference for Rich …
Lithgow City Council v Jackson [2011] HCA 36: hearsay, lay opinion evidence and business documents
Sometimes the wheels of justice grind very slowly.The High Court heard appeals from this case twice, most recently delivering its decision on 28 September 2011. The NSW Court of Appeal also dealt with the matter twice. On its face it's a fairly simple negligence action arising from a fall in a public park one night …
Judgment time
Some significant criminal law judgments will be delivered this week.The High Court is expected to deliver today its decision on the appeal from Momcilovic v The Queen (2010) 25 VR 436. This is the case considering the operation of the deeming provision in s 5 of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 and …
Forgotten, but not gone
In R v Martindale [1986] 84 Cr App R 31 the accused claimed lack of possession due to forgetfulness. He'd been charged with possession of drugs under UK law. He said that he had been given cannabis while in Canada, had put it in his wallet and forgotten it was there before returning to England …