Andrew L. Urban.
“The Plan … started long before Lisa Wilkinson’s infamous Project interview in February 2021. Shortly after meeting Sharaz in May 2020 – some 14 months after the alleged rape – Higgins crafted a note about an ‘anatomy of a political sex scandal’,” as reported in The Australian (9/7/2024) Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Sexual assault, what people think of as rape and sexual intercourse without consent are not really the same thing, yet they are stapled together in the eyes of the law. The entire subject is one of the hottest issues in the public square.# The Law Reform Commission is even looking at how convictions can be increased by lowering the bar for prosecution. Is that wise? Is that consistent with the presumption of innocence, the onus of proof on the Crown – and with justice? Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Well now, the Law Reform Commission, which has never looked at reforms that might minimise wrongful convictions, is conducting a probe into the nation’s sexual assault laws to examine whether civil remedies, with lower standards of proof, can “bring justice for complainants”. And presiding is Australian Law Reform Commission president Mordecai Bromberg, who in Employment/Industrial Relations cases (2018-2020) found in favour of the union 10 out of 11 times, according to a 2021 Menzies Research Centre (MRC) report on Judicial Impartiality. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
The risks to the rule of law in Australia are subtle and internal and “I do not believe that there are any risks to our way of life in terms of the rule of law from the inclusion of immigrants,” said Walter Sofronoff KC in his Robin Speed Memorial address to the Rule of Law Education Centre (June 13, 2024). “It will come from wrongheaded narcissists and zealots…” Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban,
In just under 80 minutes, the audio version of the New Yorker’s investigative piece about the Lucy Letby case provides a thorough expose of the hysterical miscarriage of justice that an entire legal system has managed. You can read it in full, too. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban
In The Science of Murder, the 60 Minutes investigation on Sunday June 2, 2024, the science in question was medical science: how new evidence to support Robert Farquharson’s claim of cough syncope as the cause of the accident that led to the drowning of his three sons in a dam should trigger a new look at his murder conviction. But one question 60 Minutes did not explore – and neither had the police. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban
Bruce Lehrmann has not been convicted of rape – yet his name and reputation have suffered as if he had been. It was in the civil proceedings that Justice Lee ruled in favour of Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson’s claim that their allegations of Lehrmann raping Brittany Higgins was not defamatory but ‘probably’ true … on the balance of probabilities. All the while Lehrmann maintains his innocence – and has just lodged an application to appeal Lee’s judgement. Continue reading
“The morning after my son’s 18th birthday he was charged with rape,” one mother, Erin, reports. Sexual assault allegations against males are easy to make … and all too often damage the reputation of the accused, even if those who are innocent are lucky enough to avoid a guilty verdict. Mothers Of Sons is there to help – with advice and support. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Justice Lee’s judgement is not reliant on any arguments by any of the parties, according to Bruce Lehrmann’s notice of appeal against Justice Lee’s judgement in his failed defamation trial: ‘this cannot stand’ is his stance, broke and derided as he is. Continue reading
NEW YORK, NY — As the criminal trial involving former President Donald Trump winds to a close, the presiding judge instructed jurors that they don’t have to believe Trump is guilty to convict him. (The Babylon Bee, May 30, 2024) Continue reading