The following lecture notes relate to a presentation give to ‘the floor’ of the Sir Owen Dixon Chambers by Dr Robert Cavanagh.
The presentation used the case of Kathleen Folbigg as a case example to examine the limitations of the criminal appeal process in Australia as it relates to victims of injustice and to propose an alternative approach – creating a Criminal Case Review Commission.
Offshore detention has been a policy of the Australian government since the Howard years. Mark Basa is currently held on Christmas Island – but how much does offshore detention cost and who profits from it. The Guardian recently published an article about the company that manages the detention centre on Nauru.
This article provides an historical review of injustice in the Australian legal system.
Turner contends that there was a complex relationship between the government, the judiciary and the police that involved ‘an unacknowledged agreement’ where ‘law enforcement is based on violence [that] almost necessarily involves malpractice’ and ‘[y]et none of this can be admitted by Government or Bench, because to do so would be to undermine an institution on which the power of judges and politicians depends’. In the end, corruption provides the foundation for injustice to occur.
Table of Contents On April 24, 2024, Dr Robert Cavanagh, barrister-at-law, presented a lecture to the bar association entitled: “Prerogative of Mercy, Pardons, and Criminal Law Review Commissions: Why bother changing a system that has been in existence for 100 years?”…
A copy of the Royal Commission Report is available below. You will need to download it and read the pdf file. Royal Commission of Inquiry into Chamberlain Convictions, Report, Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers (1987), volume 15, paper 192
Table of Contents The Tradition of Hate Towards Protesters One of the most striking examples of the attitude of politicians towards those who protest was shown by the corrupt long serving New South Wales Premier, Sir Robert William Askin GCMG,…
In response to instances of miscarriages of justice and a need for better post-conviction review mechanisms, the United Kingdom (in 1997),[i] Scotland (in 1999),[ii] Norway (in 2004)[iii] and New Zealand (in 2020)[iv] have established a Criminal Cases Review Commission. On…
