Law on Police Using Tasers in NSW: Indigenous Man Tasered in Face by Police
By Poppy Morandin and Jimmy Singh. An Indigenous man has been tasered in the face at close range by an NSW Police Officer, during an arrest in Paddington. Footage of the arrest has gone viral on social media. It shows Mr Lovelock on his knees with his hands stretched out. Officers then try to ...continue reading
Law on Police Use of Pepper Spray in NSW
By Poppy Morandin & Jimmy Singh. The deployment of pepper spray on protestors following the Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney, has sparked concerns regarding the way in which the NSW Police Force uses such a tool. The day was largely characterised as a peaceful protest, following the public assembly’s last-minute authorisation from the ...continue reading
Law on NSW Police Arrest Powers
In NSW, a police officer is allowed to use force when exercising their lawful powers. However, it isn’t that simple. According to section 230 of Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW), police are allowed to use such force as is reasonably necessary for purposes of exercising one of their powers as a ...continue reading
Law on Australia’s Right to Hold Public Assemblies
By Poppy Morandin & Jimmy Singh. The death of George Floyd has inspired protesters to take to the streets, across the USA and globally, to campaign against systematic racism and demand stronger police accountability. In performing an arrest of Floyd, officer Derek Chauvin defied police protocol and all sense by kneeling upon the victim’s ...continue reading
Law on When Police can Arrest You for Breaching a COVID19 Public Health Order in NSW
By Poppy Morandin & Jimmy Singh As restrictions ease and the imposition of COVID-19 related fines drops significantly, civil rights advocates such as NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge have heralded this as an opportunity for the wider Australian population to examine the implementation of police powers. New South Wales Police have been able to ...continue reading
How Does COVID-19 Affect Bail Applications in NSW?
By Fouad Awada and Jimmy Singh. On 30 March 2020, the Supreme Court of New South Wales handed down a decision granting conditional bail to Mr Abdul Rakielbakhour who was accused and charged with serious domestic violence charges. Mr Rakielbakhour was arrested and charged with common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, alleged ...continue reading
Woman Charged for Assaulting Police in South-West Sydney After Spitting at the Officer
By Sahar Adatia and Jimmy Singh. As fear and uncertainty continue to mount with the novel coronavirus now in full force, so too it seems does the eccentric and offensive behaviour. Stressful times indeed deplete people to new lows, sapping them of their cognitive abilities; all the while, anxiety has the tendency to often ...continue reading
What are the Rules Around NSW Police Strip Searching a Person?
241,000 is the number that has been given to NSW Police Officers, representing the quota for conducting personal searches, including strip searches on people for the 2019 financial year. In fact, in 2019, NSW Police failed to meet its quota by just under 2000 searches. NSW Greens managed to obtained the shocking revelation through the ...continue reading
What is a Criminal Lawyers’ Role?
Criminal lawyers represent people from all walks of life. Unfortunately, movies and TV shows have portrayed criminal lawyers in a bad light, prompting members of the public asking the question criminal lawyers get asked too often, “but how can you defend a criminal?”, or “how can you defend a guilty person?”. Too often we ...continue reading
What is Self-Defence Under the Law in NSW?
It is reported that on new year’s eve, as Pope Francis walked in Vatican City whilst greeting pilgrims on his way towards the cobble esplanade, footage has emerged of a woman from the crowd grabbing the Pope’s hand and pulling him towards her. The act appears to cause the Pope pain, as the footage ...continue reading