Articles
Category: Criminal Defence
Queensland bail laws for children
In 2024, Queensland introduced significant changes to its bail laws, aiming to tackle youth crime and enhance community safety. These reforms primarily focus on repeat offenders and represent a more stringent stance on granting bail, especially for young offenders deemed a risk to public safety.
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Significant changes to youth justice laws in Queensland
On 13 December 2024, the Queensland Parliament passed the Making Queensland Safer Act 2024, introducing significant amendments to youth justice laws. These changes mark a major shift in the way the justice system approaches young offenders, with some amendments already in effect and others set to come into force in 2025.
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Common interest privilege in Australia
Common interest privilege (CIP) is an extension of legal professional privilege (LPP) and applies to the sharing of privileged information between parties with a mutual interest in the outcome of litigation or legal matters.
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The ‘no body, no parole’ scheme in Queensland – clarifying the meaning of ‘remains’
Under Queensland’s ‘no body, no parole’ scheme, prisoners sentenced for various offences, including homicide, will be denied parole if the body or remains of their victim cannot be located, unless the prisoner provides satisfactory cooperation to locate the body.
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Mandatory sentencing in Queensland
When sentencing an offender for a criminal offence in Queensland, judges and magistrates usually have a level of discretion as to the sentence they impose. But that’s not always the case. A mandatory sentence is one that the judge or magistrate must impose upon someone who has committed a certain offence.
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Trafficking dangerous drugs in Queensland
Trafficking in dangerous drugs is one of the most serious criminal offences in Queensland. Under the Drugs Misuse Act 1986, any person who carries on a business of unlawfully trafficking in a dangerous drug is guilty of a crime.
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Regulatory offences in Queensland
In Queensland, there are two types of offences: criminal offences and regulatory offences. Criminal offences are by far the most common, but in this article, we explore the lesser-known topic of regulatory offences.
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Possessing child exploitation material – charges and penalties
In Australia, there are a wide variety of criminal offences relating to unlawfully dealing with child pornography, also known as child exploitation material. These include the offences of unlawful possession, access, distribution and making of CEM; the most common offence being that of possession.
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Police interviews involving children
When police wish to interview a child in relation to a suspected offence, special rules apply. Parents and those with the care of a child who the police want to question should seek urgent legal advice from the outset, before any interview takes place.
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NDIS fraud – investigations and penalties
The NDIS Commission uses a range of compliance and enforcement tools to prevent and address breaches of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, including NDIS fraud and other non-compliance activities.
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Weapons licensing show cause requests
When further information is required to adequately determine a weapon’s licence application, it is ordinarily sought in the form of a show cause notice which is emailed to the applicant and identifies the further information requested by the authorised officer.
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Assault occasioning bodily harm explained
Assault occasioning bodily harm is a very common offence of violence, and falls within the broad category of assault offences. It is a more serious offence than common assault, but less serious than grievous bodily harm.
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