How police use victim statements When police charge a person (the accused) for committing an offence against another person (the victim), a formal complaint is required by the victim in order for the police to proceed with an investigation. Police will take a signed and witnessed statement from the victim outlining what the accused did to them. Police will then use that statement as evidence to prove the offence in court. Victim doubts their recollection Sometimes

A criminal record can be detrimental to your work prospects and ability to do volunteer work. Often organisations will ask you for a National Police Check to see that you are of good character or suitable for the role. But not all criminal offences show up on a police check. We detail what and what doesn't show on your criminal record. Firstly there are two types of criminal records in most states.  One that shows

At some stage or another we've all played a sport, whether at school when we are younger or on weekends in our adult lives. Physical contact increases the chances of getting injured. Most of the time it is accidental but occasionally it is deliberate. Here's some things that you should know when you play any sport: You are agreeing to the rules of the game; and You are consenting to any injury you might reasonably

All states have systems to not punish people for minor or first time offences and to give them a second chance. Importantly this avoids a criminal conviction. Examples of this are diversion and no conviction orders. A criminal conviction can affect a person's job prospects for a long time where the most law abiding citizen has committed minor criminal offences because of errors of judgment or circumstances where they acted outside their character. The criminal justice system

The transport police entering your carriage on a train can send dread through the hearts of most commuters. So what happens when you think you have a valid ticket and the officer scans it and it reads as invalid? The Victorian Transport Regulations conveniently outline the key defence that is deemed acceptable where a ticket is scanned as invalid. It is a defence to a charge under that the commuter took all reasonable steps to

Criminal justice tends not to discriminate when it comes to the laying of police charges and the prosecutors' ability to prove those charges. Whether you have a clean criminal record or have been before the courts previously, you are treated the same. Where circumstances seem genuinely unfair, we’ve often been told by prosecutors that “it’s not about fairness.” Sausage factory justice The “summary” stream of the court system can be likened the worst company you’ve

When you are  charged with an offence, the police will normally interview you. Sometimes it can happen without you knowing, such as being caught speeding - an officer will ask why you were speeding. You may think this is just conversational, but in reality the officer is looking for an admission that makes for a stronger case in prosecuting you in court, if you choose to defend the charge. At the same time people often think

Driving and traffic offences are some of the most common offences we see from clients. The normal questions asked is whether a client can get off on a technicality. The short answer is yes but you have to be lucky. These kinds of offences can be difficult to challenge as often there is photographic evidence or a laser detector used. However our lawyers have had success in finding technical defences or holes in the evidence.

Our lawyers work hard to either get charges withdrawn or lowered. Sometimes this happens in a plea deal with the prosecutor where our client agrees to plead guilty to lesser or fewer charges in order to get the more serious charges withdrawn. We will only recommend this if we advise that the evidence that the prosecutor has will prove an offence. A plea of guilty also gets a sentencing discount of around 25% less than

In the wake of well publicised crimes committed by persons on bail, the Victorian Government changed the bail laws to make it more difficult to be released. The consequences have been telling in that our remand centres have unprecedented numbers of persons awaiting resolution of their matters. Harder to get bail When the police oppose bail, the person charged has to establish either “compelling reasons” or “exceptional circumstances” that they should not be incarcerated. The