Change to ACT jury laws to be introduced following Lehrmann trial - 27 October 2023

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Daily wrap  

• Bruce Lehrmann named as man accused of rape in Toowoomba

  • A copy of the judgment and judgment summary can be found here - Lehrmann v Queensland Police Service & Ors [2023] QSC 238 (13271 of 2023) Applegarth J  

• ACT moves to punish jurors who conduct their own research during trials

• Law firm threatens legal action against prime minister, senior ministers, over Gaza remarks - ABC News

• The presumption of both parents having an equal say over their children in custody battles has been abolished

• Family of Clare Nowland granted access to police body-worn footage of her tasering in aged care home

• Police allegedly seize $27m worth of the drug ice in raids on the Gold Coast

• Man who set fire to Old Parliament House apologises to local Indigenous groups for harm caused

• 'Unwise' relationship saw Cleo Smith detective leak confidential information to journalist, CCC report finds

• Inquest to ask why surgery notes not passed between hospitals before man died from sepsis

• Anti-Woodside protesters gather at ABC studios amid fears Four Corners will reveal sources - Disrupt Burrup Hub’s media adviser, Jesse Noakes will face trial on 6 November for refusing to hand over material.

• First Nations launch legal challenge over consultation failures in Murray-Darling Water Resource Plan - Environmental Defenders Office

• AGL agrees to pay $6m fine over compliance breaches | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT

• Top legal partners want to ‘eat what they kill’, not share profits - AFR [Paywall]

Editor’s picks

• Legal in one state, a crime in another: laws banning hate symbols are a mixed bag

• Scarati v Republic of Italy [2023] FCA 1264

  • CONTRACT - construction of contract - whether preamble incorporated into the terms of the contract - intention of parties - where preamble referred to the 1967 Presidential Decree, the 2000 Legislative Decree and the 2006 DFAT Agreement - whether 2006 DFAT Agreement incorporated into the contract

• McNeil v State of Queensland (Electoral Commission of Queensland) [2023] QIRC 308

  • As context:

    “[6] On 28 October 2022, Ms McNeil posted two GIFs in the team's group chat (including Mr Healy). The message accompanying them was a birthday salutation to Dr Liu. The GIFs that Ms McNeil posted were of a cupcake and a calendar with a message saying, 'A birthday is like a new year…'.

    [7] Shortly thereafter Mr Healy sent a message to all of the members of the team. The message included 'Happy Birthday Yan [smiling emoji]' and was accompanied by an animated GIF. The GIF depicted a (computer generated) clip of an orangutan dancing.

    [8] Ms McNeil was immediately concerned about the impact the GIF would have on Dr Liu.Ms McNeil was offended by the GIF which she considered both racist and sexually inappropriate. Ms McNeil subsequently took her complaint to Ms Flewell-Smith, a human resources officer employed by the Respondent”

• A ceremonial sitting of the Federal Court of Australia was held in Melbourne on 20 October 2023 to welcome his Honour Justice Christopher Horan to the Bench.

• Find out important trends relating to #corruption and #integrity risks and vulnerabilities for Commonwealth agencies in the National Anti-Corruption Commission Integrity Outlook 2022/23

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