Law Report

In a legal first, the Federal Court has handed down a sexual harassment decision under protections recently introduced to the Fair Work Act.

If a child is injured by tear gas in a youth detention centre, are the authorities liable? And can a protester injured by police during a demonstration seek damages? 

The Court of Appeal in London ruled that it was open to Britain's home secretary to designate the Palestine Action protest group as a terrorist organisation.

The Law Report looks at the Victorian government plans to ensure health and counselling information is not used in court without the consent of victim survivors, who will also be given the choice to pre-record their evidence ahead of trial.

Artificial intelligence is revolutionising all parts of the economy and our institutions — corporate boardrooms and the courts are not immune.

A court has found that a South Australian farmer was responsible for setting fire to a pile of vegetation that was left smouldering and reignited six months later, causing a devastating bushfire.

There's been a wave of defamation suits from within the Trump administration targeting the US news media. Is it legitimate litigation or lawfare?

In a case that's transfixed the US, a woman who wrote a children's book about grief following her husband's death has been sentenced to life in prison for his murder.

Imagine you are a victim of crime and need therapy to help deal with a traumatic memory. Would you go ahead if it meant that your case might not be prosecuted because the treatment could deem your evidence unreliable or inadmissible in court?

There are no political donation laws in Victoria following a High Court decision that overturned legislation in place for nearly a decade.

The Law Report speaks to victims who are calling for the banking giant to compensate them, and asks, how effective are Australian laws in dealing with sophisticated scams?

Australia's most decorated living soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail after being charged with five counts of the war crime of murder. Why was he granted bail? And why did the judge find there were exceptional circumstances and bail did not impose any unacceptable risks?

In countries where voluntary assisted dying is allowed, there are very different legal frameworks. A high-profile case in Spain raises questions of whether the procedure should only be allowed if there is a terminal illness. Should the medical criteria also include mental distress? And how does mental illness impact on the idea of agency and choice?

Indigenous incarceration rates are off the scale in Australia. For the last four years, the District Court of New South Wales has been trialling the Walama sentencing list, a program aimed at reducing recidivism.

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 Sta...

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.