Criminal Law – SXSW Legal

Crimes Committed By Mentally Ill Individuals

Research suggests that Crime and mental illness unfortunately go hand in hand. Records also show that many criminals usually have some sort of mental illness due which they end up facing repercussions from the criminal justice system and need to help from a professional at any one or multiple points in their life. However, the offences may not always be violent crimes.

When it comes to criminal activities, many people try to avoid punishment by opting for the ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’ clause. This, however, causes difficulties for the court and requires psychological testing to proof the plea. It is then determined after the testing, whether a person should be admitted to a mental hospital or sentenced to jail.

Nevertheless, many people are of the opinion that similar laws should be made for both, the mentally ill as well as regular criminals. Hence, if a mentally ill person reacts violently towards an individual, their sentence time should be the same as any other person convicted of such a felony.

Insanity Defence Plea

The fitness of a person matters greatly when they stand for trial. If the mental state of the defendant is such that they cannot even be considered ‘fit to stand trial’ and cannot even understand the consequences of their actions, nature, and aim of the punishment; they will be considered unfit for the proceedings and the trial will not take place. In such situations, the court hires psychiatrists and psychologists who submit the report regarding the defendant’s mental condition.

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Use of Force as Self Defence

The laws of self defence differ in many countries but the general principle is mostly the same. The US allows its citizens to carry a few weapons with them in order to protect themselves; however, they must have a license to carry those arms. On the other hand, Australia is against the use of weapons in self defence situations and is highly dependent on the police for the protection of its citizens.

Self defence is an act performed by an individual to protect themselves in case of murderous intent, assault and battery, rape or any other violent act being committed towards them. A plea for self defence can include any criminal charges or liabilities for committing a crime, causing injury to or death of another person in the situation. You may need to consult a criminal lawyer in order to get specific legal advice.

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Laws Regarding Criminal Trespassing

Trespassing, in general, comes under the category of criminal law as well as tort law. However, this article will be focusing on criminal trespassing. It is also known as breaking and entering.

Entering or staying on a land or property without any authorization, permission or right is called criminal trespassing. It also includes entering a place of worship and committing offence, which comes under sacrilege. In such instances, the notices in opposition to entering or residing on the property, are sent, either through oral or written communication, by the owner or through the agent who has been given the authority to do so.

When it comes to legal actions, laws differ from country to country. The consequences may be punishable in some places and simply offensive in other areas. The intention of the trespasser and the circumstances they had to do it in, also come into consideration. With the accusation of a misconduct and felony, the trespasser usually has to pay a fine or spend some time behind bars.

Trespassing on Private Residence

The punishment of a Criminal trespasser differs, based on whether they are entering a place of residence or not.

If the trespassing person is aware of the presence of the owner in that place and still continues to enter or stay within the property, they are deemed as being guilty. The punishment for a basic crime of trespassing includes spending 3 years in jail, and for serious crimes along with trespassing is 5 years behind bars.

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Sexual Offences and Legal Actions against the Offenders

The Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) states sexual offences as criminal offences. These offences include; sexual assault, indecent assault, indecent acts, child sexual assault, and aggravated sexual assault. Committing these acts or even an attempt at committing them counts as a sexual offence.

In 1981, a few modifications were made in this act, which added ‘rape’ to the ‘sexual assault’ category. Moreover, the act was made gender neutral to remove the bias. Hence, now, both male and female can be victims and offenders. Below discussed are the definitions of these offences with the legal actions taken against them.

1. Sexual Assault

Sexual assault refers to having sexual intercourse with another person without their consent. The act includes penetration of the genitalia into any part of the body of another person, oral sex, as well as continuation of the act after the consent has been withdrawn.

Consent is a voluntary permission given by the other person in a conscious state about the exact act that can be performed. It cannot be attained by fear, threats, force, fault, fraud, or in an unstable mental state.

Legal Actions

The penalty for the offender is imprisonment for 14 years by section 61L and all acts have equal consequences.

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How Are Combat Sports Legal?

They have been around for so long, that many people never really think about their legality. It certainly causes grief amongst various groups, particularly those who deplore violence of any kind. Since the purpose of the sports, such as boxing, is to cause physical injury to another person, how do participants avoid criminal charges? Sports like kickboxing, wrestling, and martial arts do seem to fall under criminal assault laws. But they clearly are not considered illegal, and there are reasons for this, however ambiguous they seem

The Laws

Australian jurisdiction covers combat sports specifically. The Combat Sports Act 2008 in NSW, and the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act 1985 in VIC are two of these. But what exactly makes something a “combat sport”, and not just regular fighting? It needs to fulfil at least one of these requirements:

It must be carried out for a profit.
The participants must be given some type of money reward.
Members of the public must be allowed to watch in exchange for an entry fee. If it is a charity event, admission prices are not required. However, a combat sports charity event must be overseen or organised by an amateur boxing organisation or the Minister.

It is easy to see that what happens during a combat sports event, and in an incident of assault, are largely similar. In both situations there is bodily harm or even serious wounds given, on purpose. While the above laws seem fairly straightforward, there have been many cases regarding the matter.

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Victorian Drink Driving Trends and Laws

It should go without saying that the legal system heavily frowns upon drink driving. Where a drunken driver’s actions lead to serious injury or death, the case it taken especially seriously by judges. When people get behind the wheel of a car after drinking more than the legal amount, they are risking the safety of others, and the community as a whole.

There are a number of factors that will affect what the consequences are for drink drivers. If charges have been laid against you for drink driving, and you are found guilty, things like the level of alcohol in your system, if you have had any previous offences, if you were taking narcotics, and how fast you were going are all factors. Depending on these things, you might face some serious time behind bars, should you be convicted.

If you have been charged with drink driving, and given a summons to go to court, legal counselling will be essential. This is a dire charge, and it should not be taken lightly.

Statistical Trends

The Transport Accident Commission of Victoria has gathered data to indicate that drink driving is generally less common, in the past decade. This is largely due to breath testing for alcohol, as well as drug testing for drivers. The random breath tests on roadsides, as well as the “booze buses”, have been a boon to police and governmental efforts.

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Fortune Telling and the Law

There are many aspects of live that people do not think relate to criminal offences. One of those things is fortune telling. While the act of fortune telling is not actually an offence in Australia, there have been criminal cases surrounding the profession. These also cover other areas, where anything similar to using “mysticism” or “divination” as part of a business occurs.

It would please many people if fortune telling were illegal. After all, there is no evidence that these businesses are legitimate. It also raises questions about what “misleading” exactly is. Can a fortune teller be criminally charged for giving a prediction that turns out to be untrue? Looking at the laws, this might seem to be the case. However, the legal system is more concerned with people using their spiritual businesses to defraud and take advantage of people, in more malicious ways.

Is Fortune Telling Legal?

Fortune telling is a criminal offence only when the person doing the telling plans on misleading people as part of a crime. This is how the law goes in South Australia and the Northern Territory at least. Anyone who uses a spiritualistic method to defraud someone is considered to be breaking the law in these places. This is demonstrated in the case below.

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Process of Prosecuting a Crime

Before a criminal case can be filed, there has to be a police report submitted. This is read by the prosecutor, who will decide if the matter needs to lead to criminal charges. The prosecutor can alternatively ask the grand jury to make the decision, asking what charges need to be filed. After this, a preliminary hearing is held by the judge, where they will decide if the matter should proceed. This usually relates to how much evidence is available, and whether there really is any case to pursue.

Charges must generally be filed within around two or three days, by the prosecutor. Since they need to make a decision so quickly, the actual charges might change over a length of time.

Arrest and Police Report

If someone has been arrested, they cannot be charged with a crime immediately. First, the police must create the aforementioned police report, which is given to the prosecutor. The details that lead up to the person’s arrest are recorded in the report, as well as information about the actual arrest. This includes things like the time and date of the arrest, where it happened, who was there to witness it, etc.

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