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- Trials to be aborted due to court flooding
Trials to be aborted due to court flooding
It is likely that some part-heard NSW trials will be aborted as a result of flooding at the Downing Centre, with the building likely to be closed for several weeks.
Daily wrap
Bruce Lehrmann pleads not guilty to stealing four-wheel drive in Tasmania | Tasmania | The Guardian
‘Unfit’ lawyer banished for selling pensioner’s $1.3m home [Courier Mail paywall]
A lawyer involved in selling a Gold Coast’s woman home against her will has learnt his fate.
Editor’s picks
In light of recent exercises of the power to pardon by outgoing US president Biden and recently inaugurated President Trump, this issue is topical once more.
The rough equivalent in Australia to the power to pardon is the prerogative of mercy which is used in exceptional circumstances to temper the law by providing clemency. The prerogative, seldom used and conventionally said to protect the law’s reputation, was recently used to pardon Kathleen Folbigg after she was convicted of killing her four children, and after 20 years in gaol. In that matter, the Governor of New South Wales exercised the prerogative of mercy to grant clemency to Ms Folbigg, a person convicted of crime. This followed the recommendation by the NSW Attorney General of a pardon and the NSW Governor, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, accepting the recommendation.
Justice Pritchard will review the history of each of the power to pardon and the prerogative of mercy (Locke, Blackstone etc), more recent practice in relation to the exercise of each, the relationship of each to the rule of law (including the immunity of the prerogative from judicial review), and more generally political theory and executive or prerogative pardons.
Reflecting on Australia's Racial Discrimination Act and the path ahead - Law Society Journal
Lawyer accidentally calling Colorado appeals court judge “honey” (video)
"I acknowledge the widespread community concern following the High Court’s decision in Bird v DP... I have directed my department to develop options, including the introduction of legislation, to address the issues identified by the Court.":
— Jeremy Gans (@jeremy_gans)
12:50 AM • Jun 19, 2025
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