LAW REFORM – VICTORIA

Drunk? Intoxicated? Police seek clarity

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Original article by Nino Bucci
The Age – Page: 9 : 19-Dec-14

Victorian police want to bring the state in line with New South Wales on laws regarding drunkenness. At present Victoria’s Liquor Control Reform Act makes a distinction between drunkenness and intoxication, while there is no such distinction in NSW. The Act includes a definition of intoxication but does not define what constitutes drunkenness. Victoria is the only state in which public drunkenness is still a criminal office

CORPORATES
VICTORIA POLICE, VICTORIAN COMMISSION FOR GAMBLING AND LIQUOR REGULATION

Jury challenges should be halved: commission

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Original article by Jane Lee
The Age – Page: 4 : 4-Sep-14

Defendants in criminal trials in Victoria have the right to make as many as six peremptory challenges to juror selections. Juries Commissioner’s Office data show that in 2013 two thirds of female jury candidates were the target of a challenge, but only a third of male ones. In order to boost diversity, the Victorian Law Reform Commission recommends halving the number of allowable challenges to three. It also wants jurors to be referred to during the court proceedings by numbers rather than their names. Attorney-General Robert Clark has pledged look at the issues

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VICTORIAN LAW REFORM COMMISSION, VICTORIA. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, VICTORIA. JURIES COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA

Labor will pursue cannabis reform

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Original article by Henrietta Cook, Anna Whitelaw
The Age – Page: 3 : 25-Aug-14

Victorian Opposition leader Daniel Andrews has announced that the Australian Labor Party’s platform for the November 2014 state election will contain a pledge to reform current legislation that bans the use of cannabis for medical purposes. If elected, Labor will ask the Victorian Law Reform Commission for proposals on how to decriminalise the use of the drug in the area of pain relief. Tony Bartone, the Australian Medical Association’s state branch president, backs the push

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (VICTORIA) LIMITED, VICTORIAN LAW REFORM COMMISSION

Fears new law will shield killers

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Original article by Steve Lillebuen, Rania Spooner
The Age – Page: 10 : 22-Aug-14

The Victorian Law Reform Commission has recommended a change to the Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried Act as it relates to suppression orders by the courts. It argues there should be "a presumption in favour" of such applications if they are made on behalf or by defendants who claim mental impairment. While the Criminal Bar Association and Victoria Legal Aid back the call, victim support groups and media law experts are urging caution. They fear the public may be denied information about dangerous murders, child abusers and arsonists

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VICTORIAN LAW REFORM COMMISSION, VICTORIA LEGAL AID, CRIMINAL BAR ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTORIA INCORPORATED, CRIME VICTIMS SUPPORT ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

Country’s first ‘sexting’ laws to be introduced in Victoria

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Original article by Henrietta Cook
The Age – Page: 3 : 21-Aug-14

Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark has announced the introduction on 21 August 2014 of new legislation that specifically targets "sexting", the first in the nation. A parliamentary inquiry had looked into the issue of minors being automatically included on the state’s sex offenders register after sending explicit images among themselves. Under the new laws the practice will only constitute an offence if it occurs in "circumstances contrary to community standard of acceptable conduct"

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VICTORIA. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Victoria to change Crimes Act on HIV

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Original article by Julia Medew
The Age – Page: 10 : 21-Jul-14

Victorian Health Minister David Davis has foreshadowed the repeal of section 19A of the Crimes Act 1958, which currently makes it an offence to knowingly transmit the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The announcement at the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne on 20 July 2014 was applauded by anti-HIV discrimination campaigner and ex-High Court judge Michael Kirby. Victoria is the only Australian state to have such a law

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, GLOBAL COMMISSION ON HIV AND THE LAW