Breaking legal stories across Australia and overseas, analysing law reform, legal education, test cases, miscarriages of justice and examining legal culture. The Law Report is clear, jargon-free information about the law and those who make it, break it, and have to comply with it.
The Law Report today looks at how the system governing pre-nuptial agreements has been thrown into jeopardy and how using social media can land you in court.
The Law Report talks to Australian lawyer Jennifer Robinson, one of the defence lawyers for Julian Assange and Wikileaks. And we jump onboard the Queensland Law Society's criminal history tour of Brisbane and visit the scenes of the city's most notorious crimes and sordid mysteries.
On Saturday, the terror suspects known as the Guantanamo Five heard the charges against them, beginning the process for what's being described as the trial of the century. Brigadier General Mark Martins, chief prosecutor of military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, talks to the Law Report in defence of the newly reformed military commissions.
Today, the Law Report looks at the effect of custodial supervision orders on those with an intellectual or mental impairment, and on those who are deaf. A piece of legislation in the Northern Territory that was designed to protect particularly vulnerable defendants has in some cases led to them being imprisoned indefinitely, despite not having been convicted of a crime.
There are increased calls for more gun controls following a spate of shootings in Sydney but the majority of firearm crimes are carried out with illegal weapons. Where are they coming from and how can we stop the trade? And for victims of sex abuse seeking compensation from churches or other institutions there are many legal walls, what is happening in similar cases overseas?
Reforms to Freedom of Information laws in 2010 promised a culture of more transparent government, but in a review the Government's FOI watchdog says outdated fees and charges are stalling that process and need a radical overhaul.
What professional group can't be sued even when it's perfectly clear they have been negligent? The answer is lawyers, the very people who make a living suing other people!
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