Category Archives: Law (Australia)

Cardinal George Pell loses appeal on child sexual assault conviction – live

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Appeal dismissed by a majority of two to one for the 78-year-old who will remain in prison until October 2022. He was sentenced in March for sexually assaulting two choirboys in 1996

By the way - this is a huge testament to the value of the jury system. I will have so much to say about that. There is NO strong evidence judges alone are less biased or more correct than a jury of 12. #Pell.

Interesting that Morrison said the decision to strip Pell of his honours is independent to the government. Back In February my colleague Paul Karp was told that if Pell lost the appeal the prime minister would write to the Council of the Order of Australia recommending it review and revoke the honour, a decision made on its recommendation by the governor general.

Related: PM to strip George Pell of Order of Australia honour if cardinal loses appeal

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Farmers jailed in Australia for smuggling Danish pig semen in shampoo bottles

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Two men from GD Pork pleaded guilty in WA to breaching biosecurity laws to gain ‘unfair’ breeding advantage

Two pig farmers in Western Australia will be jailed after being convicted of illegally importing Danish pig semen concealed in shampoo bottles.

Torben Soerensen has been sentenced to three years in prison, while Henning Laue faces a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to breaching quarantine and biosecurity laws.

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Government refers Crown allegations to integrity commission – politics live

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Attorney general responds to crossbench calls for inquiry. All the day’s events, live

Siri: what is the definition of “a punish”?

David Gillespie saddles the despatch box, and therefore us, with Michael McCormack, which gives me the permission I needed to go make a cup of tea.

“All politics is local, as it should be,” says Sliced White.

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Faruk Orman released after gangland murder conviction quashed over Lawyer X scandal

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Court of appeal orders former getaway driver be immediately released due to miscarriage of justice caused by his lawyer Nicola Gobbo

Melbourne gangland getaway driver Faruk Orman will be immediately released from jail because of a “substantial miscarriage of justice” caused by his double-agent lawyer Nicola Gobbo, also known as Lawyer X.

Victoria’s court of appeal ordered Orman be released without delay after a hearing in Melbourne on Friday found he should be acquitted due to Gobbo’s actions while she was representing him.

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Repealing medevac would be ‘a wicked thing’, Centre Alliance says – politics live

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Rebekha Sharkie says if the government is successful in repealing the legislation it will cause ‘needless harm’

On the ensuring integrity bill, Rex Patrick says there are political elements to the bill it can’t support:

The aim was to deal with misconduct and there is no question that has been in the union movement.

I have seen the fairly significant sheet of judicial rulings against some of the unions and in some instances we have some very conservative, considered judicial officers stating things like this union is simply using the fines, treating the fines as the cost of business.

Rex Patrick is speaking to Patricia Karvelas on Afternoon Briefing and says while Centre Alliance supports the intent of the temporary exclusion order bill, it will abstain from voting for it, because it can’t support it in its current form.

Labor will be passing it, although it has raised its own concerns.

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Peter Dutton says he renounced financial interest that could have disqualified him

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Statement comes as Turnbull defends his threat to use eligibility question to thwart Dutton’s prime ministerial ambitions

Peter Dutton has revealed that he renounced a financial interest that could have seen him disqualified from parliament before the May election, as he fends off calls for his eligibility to be tested in the high court.

The decision by the home affairs minister to rid himself of the financial interest comes amid fresh revelations about how Malcolm Turnbull threatened to use the constitutional cloud hanging over Dutton to thwart his bid to become prime minister.

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Federal court overturns attempt to block medevac transfer from Nauru

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Appearing to set an important precedent, judge rules doctors don’t have to speak to patient to make assessment

The federal court has overturned the home affairs department’s attempt to block the medevac transfer of a critically ill 29-year-old Iraqi man from Nauru, by ruling that doctors don’t have to speak to a patient in order to make a medical assessment.

In a judgement delivered on Tuesday, Justice Mordecai Bromberg found in favour of the refugee, whose lawyers had claimed the department secretary, Mike Pezzullo, had refused to notify the minister of the man’s application for a medical transfer, which would commence the process.

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AFP signals journalists could face charges for publishing secrets

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Acting AFP commissioner denies the government directed the investigations, which have led to raids on the ABC and News Corp this week

The Australian federal police have all but confirmed that ABC and News Corp journalists could be charged for publishing protected information after two dramatic days of raids which prompted outrage and drew international attention to Australia’s draconian secrecy laws.

The acting AFP commissioner, Neil Gaughan, held a press conference on Thursday to contain political fallout, denying suggestions the police had waited until after the federal election to execute warrants and claiming no contact had been made with the executive since they informed home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s office when the investigations started.

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Quietly and confidently, George Pell’s barrister tried to unravel the prosecution’s case | David Marr

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The appeal court judges listened intently as Bret Walker SC ransacked the English language to try to prove his point

Rule number two on these occasions is not to trust the look in their eyes. Judges are masters of disguise. Baleful can be applause. Smiles can be the kiss of death.

But the verdict at the end of the first day of George Pell’s appeal has to be that the bench is listening to the case being argued on his behalf by Bret Walker SC with a little more than respect.

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George Pell’s lawyer says timing of offence is ‘critical matter’ in appeal

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Cardinal George Pell has appeared in a Melbourne court to appeal his conviction on charges related to child sexual abuse

Cardinal George Pell’s lawyer Bret Walker SC has told three judges presiding over his client’s appeal that the timing of Pell’s offending was a “critical matter” in deciding whether his conviction should be overturned.

Walker is appealing Pell’s conviction on three grounds, the key one being that the jury came to an unreasonable verdict based on the evidence before them during the trial.

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Resettlement of Rwandan rebels labelled a ‘frustrating’ hypocrisy

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‘There never seems to be any consistent rule or fairness,’ specialist migration lawyer

A 28-year veteran of migration law whose Rwandan clients have all been denied Australia’s protection says the resettlement of two members of a violent Hutu rebel group shows a “frustrating” double standard.

Australia’s deal with the US to take in two former members of the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, once designated a terrorist group by the US, has prompted consternation among some experts and lawyers. The pair were languishing in US detention after the collapse of a case against them for the slaughter of tourists in Uganda in 1999.

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Geoffrey Rush to receive record $2.9m damages in Daily Telegraph defamation case

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Court hears that actor offered to settle for $50,000 and an apology but never heard back from News Corp

Geoffrey Rush will receive $2.9m in damages from the Daily Telegraph after a series of articles accusing the Oscar-winning actor of “inappropriate behaviour” towards a female actor.

On Thursday the federal court heard lawyers for Rush and the Telegraph had agreed the actor would receive $2m for past and future lost earnings after tax, on top of an $850,000 payment ordered by Justice Michael Wigney in his judgment in April.

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There’s no such thing as an Aboriginal ‘alien’ – and the high court should say so | Micah Kickett and Julian R Murphy

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Deporting Indigenous peoples strips them of their identity and right to country and devalues their cultural obligations and responsibilities

Aboriginal people have occupied the continent of Australia for more than 60,000 years, so why does the Australian government feel justified imprisoning them in immigration detention centres and threatening them with deportation?

Australia’s indefinite detention of asylum seekers in inhumane conditions has long been a public concern, but only recently have we learned that the government is prepared to treat its Indigenous people in a similar manner. This week, two Aboriginal Australians who have experienced such treatment brought their cases to the high court, asking the court to rule that the federal government’s constitutional power to make laws with respect to “aliens” (essentially, foreigners) cannot apply to Aboriginal Australians.

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Federal election 2019: Scott Morrison egged by protester in Albury – politics live

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Prime minister blames ‘cowardly activists’ after egg misses his head. The economy is again in the spotlight, as both parties wait to hear if the bank will cut interest rates. All the day’s events, live

Prime Minister attacked by a protester at the Country Women’s Associations meeting in Albury. The egg missed his head, but the vision shows that her hand did not. @9NewsBorderNE #9NewsAt6 pic.twitter.com/Bvg0rITray

AAP has also reported the woman accused of attempting to egg the prime minister was protesting against the government’s asylum seeker policies:

Outside the venue, the protester told reporters she didn’t mean to knock the other woman down.

“I don’t want to give a report, no thank you. I’ve got to go to work. No comment,” she told reporters.

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Court dismisses $1.8m bullying case brought by man accusing boss of breaking wind

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Victorian court upholds supreme court ruling that even if David Hingst’s allegations were true, flatulence did not necessarily constitute bullying

An Australian appeals court on Friday dismissed a bullying case brought by an engineer who accused his former supervisor of repeatedly breaking wind toward him.

The Victoria state court of appeal upheld a supreme court judge’s ruling that even if engineer David Hingst’s allegations were true, flatulence did not necessarily constitute bullying.

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One Nation’s James Ashby filmed seeking $20m from NRA to weaken Australia’s gun laws

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Al-Jazeera journalist posing as gun campaigner films senior party figures in Washington DC soliciting financial support to help One Nation seize the balance of power

Senior One Nation figures James Ashby and Steve Dickson have been caught seeking millions of dollars of political donations from US gun rights group the National Rifle Association in a bid to seize the balance of power and weaken Australia’s gun laws.

The revelations are contained in an al-Jazeera investigation which used hidden cameras and a journalist posing as a grassroots gun campaigner to expose the far-right party’s extraordinary efforts to secure funding in Washington DC in September.

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George Pell’s lawyer says child abuse was ‘plain vanilla’ sex as cardinal heads to jail

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Cardinal Pell is remanded in custody following his conviction for child sexual assault, which judge calls ‘callous, brazen offending’

Cardinal George Pell has been taken in custody following a sentencing hearing in which his lawyer, Robert Richter, described one of Pell’s offences as a “plain vanilla sexual penetration case where the child is not actively participating”.

After the hearing, with Pell’s lawyer having withdrawn his application for bail, the chief judge, Peter Kidd, said: “Take him away, please.” Pell will be sentenced on 13 March after his conviction for sexually assaulting two 13-year-old boys.

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Cardinal Pell guilty: Vatican treasurer convicted on child sex abuse charges – latest news

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George Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two 13-year-olds in 1996 and 1997 at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne. Follow live updates
• Full report: Pell found guilty of child sexual assault
• Explainer: what has Pell been convicted of?
• Five times guilty: how Pell’s past caught up with him
• Journalists accused of breaking suppression order may face jail
• ‘Disgraceful rubbish’: the moment Pell reacted to child abuse allegations

Some detail on the process behind stripping someone of the Order of Australia.

in what circumstance could George Pell's Order of Australia be rescinded? per the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General

-Council for the Order of Australia investigates
-recommends action to the GG
-process can't be finalised until end of court proceedings pic.twitter.com/eUlOXYL5v9

Another blow.

Richmond Football Club has today removed Cardinal George Pell as a Club Vice Patron. While acknowledging his right to appeal, the Club has formed a view that his association is no longer tenable or appropriate.

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Medical evacuation bill still alive with Phelps open to amendments – politics live

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Key crossbencher Kerryn Phelps indicates she would consider Labor’s changes to the medevac legislation. All the day’s events, live

The PMO has released the transcript of Scott Morrison’s doorstop this morning:

JOURNALIST: Prime minister, if you lose the medevac bill today, why should you not drive to Government House and call an election?

You may remember from Luke’s report yesterday, that David de Garis declined to answer how he found out about the AWU raid. Looks like shiz is about to get reeeal interesting in the federal court.

Justice Bromberg has ruled Michaelia Cash's former media adviser David De Garis will have to give evidence about who tipped him off that federal police were set to raid the AWU's offices. #auspol

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Deeper, wider, longer: lawyer X inquiry reveals corruption of justice system | Richard Ackland

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As the identity of Informer 3838 remains under wraps, the royal commission into police informants exposes a scandal that worsens by the day

It’s a matter of pride for lawyers that they are free and able to work both sides of the street. In particular the cab-rank rule for barristers dictates as much. One day as a prosecutor, next for an accused; for the state and against it. And in the civil sphere there’s much swapping of hats while working for plaintiffs and alternatively for defendants.

Now we have the Victorian police informer and former barrister known variously as Lawyer X, Informer 3838 or in judicial proceedings as EF, working “both sides of the street” to new and previously unexplored levels. She was shopping her clients to the police who were prosecuting them, notably when she acted as counsel for Melbourne crime figure Tony Mokbel and his associates while simultaneously providing information to the police about her clients. About eight years ago Victoria police paid her almost $2.9m in compensation for her troubles.

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