October when wrongful conviction meets antisemitism, terrorism

Posted on October 5, 2026 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists killed, raped and tortured young Israelis in a massacre of some 1200 and took some 240 hostages into their tunnels in Gaza. On October 15, 1894, French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus, the youngest son of a Jewish family from Alsace-Lorraine, was arrested for treason – without any credible evidence.  Dreyfus was convicted in a secret court martial and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island, the penal colony in French Guiana (which boasted a 75% death rate). Before his deportation, he was subjected to the public humiliation of being stripped of his rank – with a crowd of 20,000 watching and roaring as his sword was ceremonially broken and his uniform torn.  Continue reading →

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When “Reserved” Becomes a Holding Pattern

Posted on October 3, 2026 by andrew

Justice may be blind, but it should not be allowed to take three years to find its glasses, writes STEVEN  FENNELL, prompted by the story of the feud between NSW Chief Justice Bell who is irked by Federal Court Justice Jackman’s criticism of judges taking too long to deliver verdicts.  Continue reading →

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Bell v Jackman – Which of these two judges would you want to hear your case?*

Posted on October 2, 2026 by andrew

Janet Albrechtsen, Stephen Rice (The Australian), with cynical comments by Andrew L. Urban.

The simmering feud between two of Australia’s most influential judges has burst into the open again, with NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell blasting Federal Court judge Ian Jackman for “denouncing” fellow judges – one of them dead – over delays in delivering judgments. Clearly unimpressed, Justice Jackman hit back in a judgment delivered on Wednesday in an insurance dispute, observing that “the duties of judges to serve the public in the proper administration of justice should rank ahead of the desirability of cordial internal relations within the judiciary”. [Take that, old boy your Honour!]   Continue reading →

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Memo to Attorneys-General: separation of powers does not negate responsibility

Posted on September 30, 2026 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

 One Nation features 29 policy outlines on its website; criminal law reform isn’t one of them. Under the heading What we’re working on, Labor’s website features five top policy areas; criminal law reform isn’t one of them. Law reform policies are also absent from the Liberal Party website. The Law Reform Commission has barely dipped its toe into reform. Neither politicians nor the legal profession show any signs of recognising the need for reforms. This article marks the 13th annual International Wrongful Conviction Day, October 2, 2026. Continue reading →

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From the archives: Noel & Frank – sacrificed on altar of #MeToo

Posted on September 28, 2026 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

 Noel Greenaway and Frank Valentine were both, at different times, child welfare officers at the Parramatta Training School for Girls (GTS), back in the 60s and 70s, a place for troubled and troublesome young teenage girls, generally around 14-15. Decades later, some of the former inmates responded to the promptings of lawyers, media and politicians, to come forward and make allegations of sexual and physical abuse against these two men, the only surviving male staff from those years. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013-2017) was all ears. As were the police and later the courts. All they had to do was make their claims, which until then they had never mentioned to anyone. Corroboration was not required. Both men were found guilty of a number of the charges – no surprise. Continue reading →

Posted in Case 22 Noel Greenaway, Case 26 Frank Valentine | 3 Comments

Can bad actors use AI to commit a crime? An assassination? Go rogue?

Posted on September 27, 2026 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

 Scaremongering over AI is rampant. So I asked LIA (legally trained) and also Grok: Under what if any legal constraints do you operate? Do you refuse, like the army, say, to respond to requests that are illegal in the jurisdiction in which such requests are made? Continue reading →

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How can AI help avoid wrongful convictions?

Posted on September 25, 2026 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

A sufficiently rigorous pre-trial assessment by a legally trained AI agent can identify important weaknesses in the prosecution theory before trial. Such a process can be used by counsel for either side as a structured pre-trial viability test. In fact, that is one of its most useful applications and has the potential to help avoid wrongful convictions.  Continue reading →

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Big Build Royal Commissioner Chris Kourakis in the rearview mirror

Posted on September 24, 2026 by andrew

When he was South Australia’s Solicitor General (2003 – 2008), Chris Kourakis made “a disturbing, incorrect decision, which resulted in [Henry] Keogh’s continued incarceration,” wrote Adelade University legal academic Bob Moles. In fact it cost Keogh 10 more years in prison … until his acquittal in December 2014.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 02 Henry Keogh | 5 Comments

LIA Pro, After Apex: A Smaller Claim, and a Safer One

Posted on September 23, 2026 by andrew

“Consistent with” has probably done more quiet damage in this field than any single dishonest witness. A system that does not flinch at it is not a review tool. It is a typist,” writes ADRIAN BERTINO-CLARKE, President & CEO, FIA Labs / Federated Intel AI LLC, on the launch of his latest legally trained AI tool: LIA Pro, a serious new legal tool coming at a time when concerned attention is focused on AI in general and in the legal context in particular.  Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 6 Comments

Lindsay Clancy – what about Patrick, the father? “it was the mental illness”

Posted on September 22, 2026 by andrew

In this transcript of the heart-wrenching 60 Minutes interview (Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, by Ross Douthat, Michael Karzis) Patrick Clancy says “it was her mental illness … (which) has this ability to be tragically deceptive”. In any case, he gave her his forgiveness. He also reveals that “There was a time where I– I didn’t think I would live to see my 35th birthday. And I was completely fine with it.”    Continue reading →

Posted in Case 32 Lindsay Clancy | 1 Comment