Articles

Category: Criminal Defence


The impact of mental health on criminal sentencing

Mental health and criminal sentencing

During criminal sentencing, the mental health of the offender at the time of the offence and at the time of sentencing will be considered by the court.
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What is the Harman Undertaking?

The Harman undertaking – understanding your obligations

The Harman undertaking prevents a party from disclosing documents obtained in one proceeding in a separate proceeding.
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Common court orders in Queensland criminal sentencing

Common court orders in Queensland criminal sentencing

In Queensland, the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) (“the Act”) contains the sentencing principles, guidelines and options applied by the court when imposing a penalty for a criminal offence.
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Reviewing Blue Card Decisions

Reviewing blue card decisions

In Queensland, if Blue Card Services refuse to grant someone a positive notice, they can seek to overturn that decision by lodging a review of the decision in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
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University investigations and student disciplinary proceedings

University investigations and disciplinary proceedings against students

Australian universities and other educational institutions have powers to investigate allegations of ‘general’ and ‘academic’ misconduct by students.
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What is the Queensland Drug and Alcohol Court?

What is the Queensland Drug and Alcohol Court?

The Queensland Drug and Alcohol Court is an established specialist court in Brisbane that focuses on assisting defendants with severe substance dependencies or addictions.
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Stealing, robbery and burglary – what’s the difference?

Stealing, robbery and burglary – what’s the difference?

Whilst stealing, robbery and burglary may appear to the public to be the same offences, there are significant differences between them.
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Drug diversion programs in Queensland

Drug diversion programs Queensland

This article addresses some of the alternative avenues for people charged with drug offences, including police drug diversion, court-ordered drug diversion and Drug and Alcohol Assessment Referral (DAAR) courses.
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What is coercive control and is it against the law?

What is coercive control and is it against the law?

In response to the ‘Hear Her Voice’ report by the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce, the Queensland Government has recently passed new laws against coercive control. Queensland is one of only a few states in Australia to have such legislation in place. In this article, we define coercive control and explore the new legislation in relation to criminal offences and coercive control.
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What constitutes threat when ordering peace and good behaviour orders?

Peace and good behaviour orders - what constitutes a threat?

In the 2021 District Court decision of Sinclair v Lynch [2021] QDC 190, the Court helpfully outlined what constitutes a threat for the purposes of making a peace and good behaviour order pursuant to the Act.
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Your guide to the principles of Commonwealth sentencing for Federal offences

Commonwealth offences sentencing

Commonwealth offences include drug importation, terrorism, Australian Tax Office and Medicare fraud and are sentenced differently to State-based offences.
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Defences and penalties for the charge of common assault

Common assault

Your guide to what constitutes assault, what the prosecution must prove to be found guilty, defences available and penalties if convicted.
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