Bail out

Updated on Friday, May 24, 2013 by Justinian

New South Wales' new bail legislation ... Presumption against bail still there in all but name ... Juveniles get one extra chance to reapply ... In last 30 years the proportion of the prison population on remand has doubled ... Legislation designed to please the police ... Former magistrate Max Taylor reports 

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The saga of Jimmy Savile

Rolf Harris named in the mainstream media following his arrest ... Now lawyers and MPs want to restrict naming of people arrested, but not yet charged ... The Jimmy Savile affair and the spread of allegations ... "Everyone" knew, but no one did anything ... Where's the money? ... Investigation industry thriving ... Theodora on the case 

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Why am I paid half the rate of a solicitor?

Baby barristers are such a bargain, so why aren't they snaffled-up? ... Junior Junior says clients should get rid of over-priced panel firms and use in-house solicitors as the go-betweens ... Saves money, which could then be spent on the barrister  

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The New Jim Crow

Runaway hit ... Book about the war on drugs in the US and the criminalisation of large parts of the Afro-American population ... Supreme Court validates racial bias of the criminal justice system ... Blacks like crack cocaine, whites prefer powder cocaine ... Sentencing discrepancies ... US incarceration rate the highest in the world ... Book review by Stephen Keim 

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Hermann and the juicy file

The Fellas want to get their hands on that huge file ... What's Gail got that's so magic? ... Apparently she's a "straight shooter" ... But then, there's a f**k-up ... Whose f**k-up? ... Dorothy explains 

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A painful day

The hidden role of pre-menstrual syndrome at the bar ... Man-flu seems a perfectly acceptable ground for non-appearance ... The role of the hot-water bottle ... Junior Junior on secret women's business  

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Messenger remains unshot by the High Court

Google v ACCC ... Advertisements are advertisements and Google's AdWords isn't responsible if they are misleading ... Challenge to make search engines more accountable, without destroying their openness and convenience ... Stephen Keim and Jordan Sosnowski examine the case and the policy issues  

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Whales get their day in court

Updated on Monday, February 18, 2013 by Justinian

HSI v Kyodo ... Challenging the government to protect Australia's Antarctic whale sanctuary ... Four years of Federal Court argy-bargy to get an injunction against Japanese whalers ... ICJ and the legality of Japan's permits under whaling "research" program ... Stephen Keim and Jordan Sosnowski look at the cases 

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Doing time the whitefella way

Mirian Margoyles' view of Australia as a land of opportunity and equality doesn't quite fit with the way whitefella law is dished-up to Aborigines in the Top End ... What to make of Dennis Rostron's case ... Observations from visiting London criminal lawyer Felicity Gerry 

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Back in the glare

Updated on Friday, February 15, 2013 by Justinian

It's a pity the denizens of Sydney were deprived of reading many of the details of criminal proceedings involving the Ibrahim family ... Heavy-handed court suppression orders effectively shut-off news reporting of a conspiracy to murder case against Michael Ibrahim ... John Ibrahim's name also ordered to be unmentionable 

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Sexual identity, prison and the law

Court ordered sex reassignment surgery for convicted murderer ... Transsexuals' rights to medical treatment in prison ... Cruel and unusual punishment ... 8th amendment ... Political and media storm over judge's decision ... Reassurance for Bradley Manning's female alter-ego ... Stephen Keim and Benedict Coyne report 

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The nourishment of babes

Artemus Jones bemoans the descent into acrimonious attacks on those who express unpopular views ... Wither free speech? ... Channel 7 "personality" and the manufactured hoopla on breast-feeding in public 

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Back into it

Some barristers have to slink back to work because of their shameful antics at the end-of-year chamber's party ... Junior Junior is not one of them ... She stayed late at the party and now has something up her sleeve that may prove useful on a rainy night 

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A glimpse of the future

ASIO and refugees' security assessments ... The High Court trod gingerly in the M47 case ... Now its earlier finding on permanent detention is up-for-grabs by a differently constituted court ... Lawyers for asylum seekers will be back for another round 

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Motherhood at the bar

There are rules for women who have children while at the bar ... No space for joys of motherhood ... Junior Junior unmoved by WBF instructions 

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