Category: Criminal Law

The Options For Drug Law Reform In Australia

Many of the people that are currently in a residential drug rehab facility have arrived there as a result of the criminal justice system and, specifically, a court decided that, based on the circumstances of that individual, a stay in drug rehab would be more beneficial than sending them to prison. The fact that a person is addicted to drugs rather than someone who supplies or manufactures them illegally makes a huge difference.

Whilst the court sending them to drug rehab rather than prison is rightly seen as a more enlightened approach, many feel strongly that the criminal justice in Australia and specifically the law related to drugs is not fit for purpose and needs a radical rethink and subsequent overhaul.

From the outset, one of the problems with changes to the laws relating to drug use is that there are people with a vast array of different views, solutions, and ideas, and so there is no single approach from those who wish to see change. Weigh that up against those who oppose changes to drug laws, of which there are many, and you can see why any changes happening are not going to occur without a long and serious debate.

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5 Types of Assault Offences And Their Definitions

When the word ‘assault’ is used to describe an offence, it is normally used as a general term. The reason we say that is there are actually several specific offences of assault, and criminal lawyers are likely to be required to represent someone charged with any one of them.

As a general definition of assault, it is normally regarded as touching, striking, moving, or applying force to someone. This can be done indirectly or directly, and it has to occur, either without the consent of the victim, or in a situation where consent was given, but was obtained fraudulently.

One error people make when thinking about the offence of assault is that they assume that physical harm must have been caused to the victim. Merely threatening assault or being capable of carrying out assault is sufficient for a crime to occur.

In situations where assault has occurred domestically, where a child was present, the person assaulted was over 60, there is racial motivation for the assault or the assault broke the terms of a restraining order, this is classed as aggravated assault.

As we mentioned there are different categories of assault which are each classed as crimes in their own right, so let us explore them in more detail.

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