Tag: Courts
Australia’s first civilian jury was entirely female. Here’s how ‘juries of matrons’ shaped our legal history
Centuries ago, women could “plead the belly” - argue they were pregnant to avoid the death penalty. It gave rise to the female jurors in Australian courtrooms.
A judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network 10 has been delayed. What’s going on?
Just days before Justice Michael Lee was due to pass down his judgement, Network 10 threw another spanner in the works.
David McBride is facing jailtime for helping reveal alleged war crimes. Will it end whistleblowing in Australia?
David McBride helped bring about a reckoning with the Australian Defence Force, but came at a legal cost. Will it stop others coming forward?
The rule of law is fundamental to a free society – so why don’t NZ courts always uphold it?
Court decisions based on a judge’s discretion rather than the letter of the law are increasingly common. But this risks undermining some basic liberties.
The words that helped wrongly convict Kathleen Folbigg
The meanings we carry around in our heads seem so natural and inborn that we fail to realise other people can have quite different understandings.
Some people think income tax is illegal. It's pseudolaw, and it's damaging the legal system
Pseudolaw looks a bit like law. It uses legal texts and sounds like something a lawyer might say. But it does not follow normal legal rules. So where did it come from, and why it is so worrisome?