Law Report

The Law Report is asking some big picture questions about the pros and cons of facial recognition software use by police and retailers.

Should the Federal Government have powers to restrict the movement of former immigration detainees in the community?

How accurate is a recent report that claims Victorian courts issue more suppression orders than in any other Australian jurisdiction?

What arguments and information should courts be hearing when they are sentencing an offender? In April, a tool to assist defence lawyers and judges will go national.

Matthias Bekier, former managing director of Star Entertainment, the company which operates Sydney’s Star Casino and Paula Martin, Star Entertainment’s former legal counsel both failed to address money laundering risks and criminal associations between 2017 and 2019.That’s the finding of Justice Michael Lee of the Federal Court, who at the same time dismissed similar cases against a number of Star Entertainment’s non-executive directors.What does this finding mean for both executive and non-executive directors?Guest: Anthony Whealy, former NSW Supreme Court judge, Chair of the Centre for Public Integrity and a Former New South Wales Court of Appeals Judge, he’s also a former assistant commissioner to the NSW ICAC. (Independent Commission Against Corruption)To hear more in-depth expert coverage of the important legal stories and cases of the week, search for The Law Report podcast on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Law Report is shining a light on claims or disaster chasers who approach people whose homes have been damaged by a severe weather event.

Two former family law judges sit down with Damien Carrick to revisit a time before no-fault divorce, when unhappy spouses often employed private detectives to prove adultery.

Queensland has introduced a bill to ban the slogans "from the river to the sea" and "globalise the intifada". Western Australia wants to give police the power to refuse a protest permit if a public event is deemed likely to promote hate. It comes after New South Wales imposed tight restrictions on the Sydney protest against the visit of Israel's president Isaac Herzog.

The Law Report speaks to Richard Hermer, attorney general for England and Wales, who was in Australia recently with a message centred on upholding the rule of law. And why do individuals and corporations donate to political parties?

Can artificial intelligence reveal the assumptions judges make? Or help lawyers and litigants to identify appeal arguments?

In the wake of the Bondi mass shooting, the federal government has passed two significant pieces of legislation that it says are aimed at preventing future attacks.

In the aftermath of Victoria's catastrophic bushfires, we look at how communities attempt to rebuild their lives and homes. We also discuss navigating complex legal issues, including insurance, debts, tenancy rights, and fakes tradies or other scammers who prey on vulnerable people in the wake of natural disasters.

In Australia, 'what is death' and other legal definitions, such as what constitutes human tissue, have not kept up with advances in medical science. The Australian Law Reform Commission is conducting the first review of human tissue laws in nearly 50 years.

An emoji, a protest placard and a tweet by a soccer fan have all led to criminal charges in Britain. The Law Report explores how language and cultural expression are used in the prosecution of non-white people for race hate offences.

Can art change lives? The Confined 16 exhibition in Melbourne celebrated the works of First Nations artists who picked up the paint brush while they were in prison.

Does pill testing save lives? The Law Report's Damien Carrick visits a pop-up service at a Melbourne music event where substances are checked, and staff talk to partygoers about reducing risk when using drugs.

This year saw a massive manhunt for alleged police shooter Dezi Freeman in Victoria's mountainous north east. In the past, the 56-year-old has been linked to the sovereign citizens movement. So, who are sovereign citizens? And what impact are they having on Australia's justice system?

What impact could Victoria's historic treaty have on policy, legislation and governance for the state's First Peoples?

In the United States, there is increasing attention on young people's interactions with AI chatbots. OpenAI is being sued over allegations that its ChatGPT platform caused users to experience delusions and even encouraged some to take their own lives.

In two weeks' time, Australia's social media ban for children under 16 will come into force. How will it work? Will it protect kids from online harm? And could they find ways around the restrictions?

Are prenuptial agreements always legally watertight? Or can they be tossed out by the courts? The High Court recently handed down a decision that focused on a poorly drafted prenup and to what extent the disgruntled client could sue the lawyers who drafted the leaky document.

November 11 marks the 50th anniversary of the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by Governor-General Sir John Kerr — an event that exposed and tested the architecture of Australia's constitution.

The Australian Law Reform Commission is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The Law Report's Damien Carrick hosted an event in Melbourne to mark its half century.

The implied freedom of political communication has been at the centre of several recent high-profile court decisions. The Law Report asks: do Australians have a constitutional right to freedom of speech? And what form does it take?

The Federal Government says it wants to reform the Freedom of Information system - what's in the proposed changes? And is the law keeping up with the growing number of pornographic deepfake images of young people being shared online?

The High Court has unanimously upheld the use of police evidence obtained by monitoring an encrypted messaging app used by organised criminals. The decision is a huge victory for policing, but does it raise questions about the breadth of Australia's surveillance laws?

As driver assistance technology become more prevalent, a persistent question remains: who is liable in the event of an accident? And looking into a future where fully driverless cars take to Australian roads: what new laws will we need?

Queensland man Terry Irving was recently awarded $130,000 in damages for a malicious prosecution over 30 years ago. The Law Report looks at compensation for wrongful convictions in Australia and asks: do we need a better system?

How does the recent advisory opinion handed down by the International Court of Justice shape discussions around climate change at the United Nations? And do Pacific island nations – among the most vulnerable to the impacts of global warming – believe Australia is doing enough to combat climate change?

Papua New Guinea is celebrating 50 years of independence from Australia. Among the country's historic achievements is the national constitution, created in the 1970s using a groundbreaking process of public consultations across PNG. Five decades on, how well has PNG's constitution served its people?

"Your failure to exhibit any remorse pours salt into all the victims' wounds," said Judge Christopher Beale in sentencing Erin Patterson to life in prison, with a non-parole period of 33 years, for the murder of her elderly in-laws.

A massive manhunt for alleged police shooter Dezi Freeman is continuing in Victoria's mountainous north east. The 56-year-old, who is accused of killing two police officers, has expressed ideas linked to the 'sovereign citizen' movement. Who are sovereign citizens? And what impact are they having on Australia's justice system?

Former Coalition Federal Minister Linda Reynolds has won her defamation case against former parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins.It has been widely reported that both parties literally put their houses on the line to fund their legal campaigns and today, almost a year after the trial wrapped, Justice Paul Tottle of the WA Supreme Court ordered that Brittany Higgins pay Linda Reynolds $315,000 in damages and $26,000 in interest.The trial centred on three social media posts written by Brittany Higgins, four years after she alleges she was raped in parliament house by her then colleague Bruce Lehrmann. The social media posts criticised her then boss Linda Reynolds.Defamation law expert Dr Jessica Lake joins host Damien Carrick to analyse why Higgins legal team defences of truth, fair comment and qualified privilege mostly failed and what this will mean for future defamation cases. To hear more in-depth expert coverage of the important legal stories and cases of the week search for The Law Report podcast on the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.Guest: Defamation Law expert Dr Jessica Lake from Melbourne University Law School

Victoria is the latest jurisdiction to adopt laws that punish offenders who brag about their crimes on social media, as Western Australia considers a similar bill to increase the maximum prison sentence. Critics fear the legislation could stifle free speech and lead to a rise in youth incarceration. And Australian regulations around electronic cigarettes are being tightened - are the new rules working?

The Nine Network's Federal Court victory over high-profile surgeon Munjed Al Muderis marks the first time a media organisation has defended a defamation case on public interest grounds. And two people who claim to have directed a documentary being screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival are at the centre of an unusual legal fight.

The Federal Court has awarded a record $305,000 in damages to a young woman who was sexually harassed by her employer at a Sydney fast food restaurant. And is it time to change how Australian law defines terrorism?

As more countries move towards formal recognition of a Palestinian state, the Law Report examines the conditions for statehood under international law. And what are the risks, benefits and opportunities presented by electronic wills?

The Law Report speaks to one of the Australian women who won the right to sue Qatar Airways after being subjected to invasive searches at a Doha airport in 2020. And what does the International Court of Justice say about Australia's responsibility to combat climate change?

As the International Court of Justice prepares to deliver a long-awaited climate advisory opinion, the Law Report explores the Federal Court ruling that Australia's government does not have a legal responsibility to protect Torres Strait islands from the impacts of climate change. And Denmark is planning to give citizens copyright protection over their face and voice.

In Australia, 'what is death' and other legal definitions, such as what constitutes human tissue, have not kept up with advances in medical science and technology.

Robodebt has shown that relying on automated decision making tools can be disastrous. What checks and balances could be developed to guide the safe and ethical use of AI in government operations, policy making and service delivery?

After seven days of deliberation, a jury has found Erin Patterson guilty of murder and attempted murder. The 50-year-old woman was found to have deliberately poisoned four members of her estranged husband's family by serving them a meal containing poisonous wild mushrooms two years ago. The trial in the Victorian Supreme Court in Morwell, outside of Melbourne, ran for more than two months and has drawn international attention.

The jury in mushroom cook Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial has retired to deliberate the verdict, guilty or not guilty. But what happens in there behind closed doors? When they retire to the deliberation room, should they leave all of their personal beliefs and prejudices at the door? And is this even possible? How does it work? In this episode from our special series Inside the Jury Room which first aired in 2018 Damien Carrick sets out to find the answer.

US President Donald Trump has praised a landmark Supreme Court ruling that struck down 'universal injunctions' issued by lower court judges, made in response to his executive order on birthright citizenship. What are the implications for numerous Trump administration policies blocked by court injunctions? And for the legal boundaries of presidential power?