Cases

Weapons

Possession of a Weapon in a Public Place – Mandatory minimum penalties.

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On 30 April 2012, the then Premier of Queensland, Campbell Newman revealed a crack down on weapons offences. His government introduced mandatory minimum penalties for weapons charges.  Importantly section 50 of the Weapons Act 1990 was amended to include mandatory minimum sentences for possession of various classes of weapons in a public place. Consequently this regime has seen sentences which have appeared unjust. Queensland Courts have sought to remedy the unfairness by imposing probation orders, particularly for young, first time offenders. There have been conflicting interpretations in both the Magistrates and District Court on this issue. That is to say, does the Court have a power in an appropriate case, to impose […]

Solicitors Rules

COMMUNICATION WITH THE COURT

The decision of Legal Services Commissioner v Trost [2019] QCAT 357, is a concise summary of the law surrounding unilateral communication with the Court. The President of QCAT, Justice Daubney was called upon to decide whether three emails sent by Mr Trost were matters of substance and whether the act of cc’ing the opponent into the correspondence resolved any non-compliance. Background By way of background, the solicitor was acting for a defendant in proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. An application for security of costs came on for hearing before Harrison AsJ in the Court on 29 March 2013. After hearing argument, Her Honour reserved her decision. Following […]

Criminal Lawyers

Queensland Police Service V Harley Joe Barbaro [2019] QMC 1

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Following a two day hearing in the Southport Magistrates Court, Harley Barbaro was found not guilty of Habitually Consorting contrary to section 77B of the Criminal Code of Queensland. The not guilty verdict highlighted a number of errors in the approach of the Queensland Police towards consorting notices. Facts of the case On the 23 July 2017 Detective Sergeant Toni Lewis hand delivered to the defendant, a document titled “Official Warning for Consorting under section 53 BAC of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000.” Below that official warning were the photographs names and dates of birth of fifteen persons, three of whom are the persons with whom the defendant has been […]