A common criminal charge resulting from a physical altercation is grievous bodily harm. If you are the person who delivers the ‘final hit’, can you defend the charge?
It is not uncommon for people to want to record conversations in which they are involved. For example, someone may wish to have an accurate record of what was said, or for their own legal protection. This leads to a common question: is it illegal to record a conversation without consent?
Under the Criminal Code in Queensland, a person commits an offence if they use a carriage service in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, menacing, harassing or offensive. The “service” can include a fixed or mobile telephone service, an internet service, or an intranet service.
There are numerous factors that weigh into the issue of whether a criminal prosecution will have a trial by jury or by judge alone. In Queensland, trials in the District and Supreme Courts are generally held in front of a jury and judge, while trials in the Magistrates Court are determined, by the presiding Magistrate alone.
The right of peaceful assembly, commonly referred to protesting, is considered a key pillar of a democratic society. In Queensland, the right to assemble peacefully in a public place is recognised in the Peaceful Assembly Act.
The Mental Health Court considers the state of mind of those who are alleged to have committed a criminal offence. It determines whether an alleged offender was of unsound mind at the time they are said to have committed an offence and whether they are now fit for trial.
The Summary Offences Act provides that a person commits the offence of ‘public nuisance’ if they behave in a disorderly, offensive, threatening or violent way and their behaviour interferes (or is likely to interfere), with the peaceful passage through, or enjoyment of, a public place.
The District Court of Queensland has delivered a decision in relation to search warrants and a person’s ability to refuse PIN code access to a phone where the phone’s contents include communications between a person and his/her lawyer.
Search warrants are a vital tool for police and law enforcement officers in the investigation of crimes. Given they often involve an invasion of the privacy of a person’s home, the law recognizes that such powers need to be exercised in strict accordance with legal requirements.
Managing mental health issues is a difficult and complex task. If you, or a loved one, has a mental illness and are charged with a criminal offence, it is important to obtain legal advice from an experienced criminal lawyer, as there are means of having charges dismissed under the Mental Health Act.