The latest issue of the Australian Law Journal (Volume 85 Part 12) contains the following material:

Articles

Unifying sentencing law: A principled approach to sentencing justice – Steven Thomson

This article examines parity of sentencing and identifies an underlying concept of fairness and consistency which can be described as a fundamental principle of “sentencing justice” applicable to all aspects of sentencing law.

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Abolishing “high crimes and misdemeanours” and the criminal processes of impeachment and attainder – Graham McBain

Previous articles in this journal have considered the crimes of treason, treason felony, sedition and criminal libel under English law, which crimes have been replicated in many Commonwealth countries and the United States. The articles have asserted that these crimes are obsolete, being superseded in most instances by more modern legislation. This article considers some of the most potent weapons the state possesses in its legal armoury in which Parliament itself is involved. “High crimes and misdemeanours” was the means employed to accuse royal favourites and powerful ministers who might otherwise avoid, or suborn, the ordinary courts. The usual process after 1399 was that of impeachment in which the House of Commons acted as the accuser and the House of Lords as judges. Where there was a risk that the Lords might not convict, a coup-de-gras could be administered by the Act of Attainder, in which the Commons, Lords and sovereign legislatively declared a person guilty of a crime punishable with death (or by an Act of Pains and Penalties in the case of a lesser penalty).This article argues that “high crimes and misdemeanours”, impeachment, Acts of Attainder and Acts of Pains and Penalties should be abolished. Further, that Parliaments should no longer seek to act as courts and that, in a fully-fledged democracy, there should be a clear separation between Parliament as the lawmaker and the courts as the interpreters, and enforcers, of the law. In this way much bad law and grave injustice arising from political trials may be avoided.

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Sections

CURRENT ISSUES – Editor: Mr Justice P W Young AO

  • DNA problems: Accuracy and delay
  • Sledging the courts
  • Juries
  • The Riot Act
  • Should there be an expanded tort of invasion of privacy?
  • The end of Volume
  • Quiz

CONVEYANCING AND PROPERTY – Editor: Peter Butt

  • The complete guide to notices to complete or eight paradoxes in search of a principle

RECENT CASES – Editor: Mr Justice P W Young AO

  • Wills: “Dependant relative revocation” – Informal wills
  • Statute of Frauds: Is an email a “note or memorandum” “signed” by person to be charged?
  • Trusts: A receiver can be appointed to a revocable trust who can revoke the trust and use its assets to pay creditors
  • Discovery: Disputed public interest immunity claim – Appointment of special counsel to assist in resolving
  • Mortgages: The vice of “asset lending”
  • Landlord and tenant: What is structural damage?
  • Shipping: Piracy – Ransoming of cargo – Whether total loss for insurance purposes
  • Validating the invalid

ANSWERS TO QUIZ

For the pdf version of the table of contents, click here: ALJ Vol 85 Pt 12 Contents.