Government announces additional 8 Cth judges

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Daily wrap  

• Former military lawyer David McBride sentenced to almost six years in jail for sharing classified information with journalists - ABC News
   

  • R v McBride (No 4) - ACT Supreme Court. Judgment summary available here.
     

  • Law Report: War crimes whistleblower David McBride sentenced; Bad Neighbours: water on Apple Podcasts
     

• Federal Court Justice Geoffrey Kennett rebukes ‘clear case’ of government overreach on stabbing video in stoush between Elon Musk’s X and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant [AFR paywall]
   

  • Kennett J’s reasons have now been published here - eSafety Commissioner v X Corp [2024] FCA 499

    [59] “It was suggested that an injunction, even if not enforceable, could have an educative or deterrent effect. X Corp’s amenability to education and deterrence might be thought to be open to doubt.”
     

• Investing in access to justice and improving community safety | Our ministers – Attorney-General’s portfolio

  “… the government will invest in… [a]n additional eight judges – four in the Federal Circuit and Family Court and four in the Federal Court – to resolve the significant backlogs of migration and protection applications left by the previous government.”
   

• Court of Criminal Appeals hears there is 'not a significant possibility' Chris Dawson is innocent according to Crown - ABC News
   

• Sydney criminal lawyer charged with publishing details of a sexual assault complainant - ABC News
   

• Lawyer linked to 'parasitic' AI content network identified - ABC News
   

• Optus hack: Optus denies ‘cloaking’ Deloitte report on 2022 cyberattack [AFR paywall]

  “Optus has denied “cloaking” a report from Deloitte into its 2022 cyberattack with legal professional privilege, in a Federal Court appeal to try to stop the document being released.”
   

  • The decision at first instance can be found here - Robertson v Singtel Optus Pty Ltd [2023] FCA 1392
     

• ‘Obliterated’ reputation key to Shandee case hearing [The Australian paywall]

  A Supreme Court judge will hold a hearing to decide if boxer John Peros suffered serious harm to his reputation from a podcast released more than a year after a coroner found he savagely stabbed his former girlfriend Shandee Blackburn to death.
   

  • Copies of the relevant judgments can be found here - Peros v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2024] QSC 80 - Supreme Court of Queensland - Trial Division Caselaw and Peros v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [No 2] [2024] QSC 83 - Supreme Court of Queensland - Trial Division Caselaw
     

• Fund for detainee court challenges [The Australian paywall]

  Labor will spend millions to fend off legal action launched in the wake of the NZYQ decision, and to administer a scheme managing potentially dangerous criminals released into society.
   

  • “$5.6 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $0.7 million per year ongoing) to AGD to administer the Community Safety Order (CSO) scheme, including extending the Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund to cover legal assistance in CSO proceedings, as part of the Government’s continuing response to the High Court’s decision in NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs & Anor” - Budget Paper No.2
    

Editor’s picks

• The National Security Podcast: The monitor's lens: the Secrecy Review and insights from the INSLM on Apple Podcasts

  “What is the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor? How does it differ from other oversight bodies? And what are the legal and policy issues we are grappling with that have prompted a Secrecy Review?

  In this episode, Jake Blight [who is the current INSLM] joins Danielle Ireland-Piper to discuss secrecy laws, how they fit into the national security landscape, and his organisation's recent review.”
   

• The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has released its report on the Administrative Review Tribunal Bill 2023 [Provisions] and related bills - found here.
   

• Queensland Courts - The Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidelines for Responsible Use by Non-Lawyers

  These guidelines for the responsible use of Generative AI chatbots in court and tribunal proceedings have been developed to assist non-lawyers (including self-represented litigants, McKenzie friends, lay advocates and employment advocates) who represent themselves or others.
   

• Law and Disorder: Demystifying law school (ANU College of Law): Perpetua Kish on the myth that all lawyers are aggressive on Apple Podcasts
   

• Wheels in motion: Australia’s road to regulating automated vehicles - Corrs Chambers Westgarth
   

• Neighbours — and their pets — can cause bad smells. These are your legal rights if odour wafts onto your property - ABC News
   

• Bail presumption reversed for serious domestic violence offences under sweeping reforms - Law Society Journal
   

  • DV bail changes make a big difference, but Minns missed one big red flag - Rosalind Dixon [SMH paywall]
     

• Law professor says Tesla threatened to fire law firm over Musk’s huge payout | Tesla | The Guardian
   

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