Crime and Human Rights: Recent Legal Developments

[elysepopplewell]

This isn't in the Australian legal system but I think it really details the way that legal system complicate sexual assault cases and end up turning it into an absolute joke. This is about India: http://www.smh.com.au/world/she-was-raped-at-13-her-case-has-been-in-indias-courts-for-11-years--and-counting-20160815-gqtcwi.html

But, it also brings to mind Brock Turner in the "Stanford rape case" (as its been coined recently).

[elysepopplewell]

This man from Melbourne has been arrested and had a trial hearing in the Philippines for his involvement in a paedophilia ring. Among his charges are assault, possession of child pornography, and murder. It's a truly terrible case, and I'm putting it here for a few reasons. This is a transnational crime. Searching for information on the Australian response would be really beneficial I think! Particularly as more of this case evolves, surely we will get some interesting commentary.
Furthermore, the case's evidence comes largely down to the way that Facebook has been used to assist the investigation. Facebook messages record the explicit photo sharing of minors and also the arrangements for the accused to meet with young females in the Philippines. Facebook has shut down the accounts of some of the minors before the man ever arranged the final meeting details.
Definitely an interesting case to follow: http://www.smh.com.au/world/australian-accused-of-child-sex-tourism-arrested-in-the-philippines-20160901-gr6x8x.html
You can also use this as a case study for your human rights contemporary issue if you are doing slavery or trafficking, more on this will come forward in the coming weeks.

Also, interesting fact from the article: Australian Federal Police data shows that more than 2,700 registered sex offenders have travelled from Australia in the past five years.

[elysepopplewell]

The EU is about to double their emergency aid for refugees stranded in Greece! I've reached my monthly free articles on SMH, so I can't link it But definitely worth checking out!

PS. Will start paying for articles next month, I reach the quota too quick.

[elysepopplewell]

This is interesting for transnational crime, but also if you are interested in people smuggling and asylum seekers for your contemporary issue.
"Notorious Indonesian people smuggler arrested in Jakarta."

The captain and five crew members, who said Australian officials paid them $US32,000 to return 65 asylum seekers to Indonesia, are already serving at least five years behind bars for people smuggling.

[jamonwindeyer]

We don't see a life sentence handed down for homicides very often in NSW, but here is a very recent example. Vincent Stanford, who raped and murdered school teacher Stephanie Scott, has received life without parole in the NSW Supreme Court. This is fantastic example to use for retributive sentencing (indeed sentencing in general), and recognising the rights of the victim in the Criminal Justice System.

[caninesandy]

Here is a very interesting documentary from Dateline and the Philippines' President Duterte and his war on drugs. The President is backing any police officer who kills drug suspects! There are a lot of casualties...It is extremely concerning 

And if for some reason you are lucky enough to not be killed then for your rehabilitation you must attend one Zumba session a week...??  I. Don't. Understand.

It might be helpful for state sovereignty arguments (especially regarding the President's comments toawrds those who wish to challenge him - "If you want to criticize me, bring the matter to the United Nations.") human rights violations (there are so many, e.g no fair trial, right to safety, right to life) etc.

[elysepopplewell]

Here is a very interesting documentary from Dateline and the Philippines' President Duterte and his war on drugs. The President is backing any police officer who kills drug suspects! There are a lot of casualties...It is extremely concerning 

And if for some reason you are lucky enough to not be killed then for your rehabilitation you must attend one Zumba session a week...??  I. Don't. Understand.

It might be helpful for state sovereignty arguments (especially regarding the President's comments toawrds those who wish to challenge him - "If you want to criticize me, bring the matter to the United Nations.") human rights violations (there are so many, e.g no fair trial, right to safety, right to life) etc.

I'm so glad you brought this to the discussion! I've been trying to keep my eye on the situation but it's just blown my mind and I haven't been able to distinguish between what is media hype and what is real. I'll definitely be having a look at that documentary! I wonder how we will see Australia continue to respond. I know Australian voices are split - some people say "good, we aren't strict enough on drugs" and then you've got people recognising the violation of rights. Thanks for sharing!

[caninesandy]

I'm so glad you brought this to the discussion! I've been trying to keep my eye on the situation but it's just blown my mind and I haven't been able to distinguish between what is media hype and what is real. I'll definitely be having a look at that documentary! I wonder how we will see Australia continue to respond. I know Australian voices are split - some people say "good, we aren't strict enough on drugs" and then you've got people recognising the violation of rights. Thanks for sharing!

No worries I agree, when I first heard about him and the situation it didn't sound "real", or something which people would do but it seems that it is.
Drugs are a very big problem over there, and everywhere, but perhaps arbitrarily, without trial, killing people is not the best way to solve it.

[elysepopplewell]

No worries I agree, when I first heard about him and the situation it didn't sound "real", or something which people would do but it seems that it is.
Drugs are a very big problem over there, and everywhere, but perhaps arbitrarily, without trial, killing people is not the best way to solve it.

It's a good thing to consider giving the transnational issue of drug trafficking as well! Undoubtedly there's been varying effectiveness in dealing with this before - I don't think violation of human rights is the way to go. Great find! Excellent to talk about in an exam.

[elysepopplewell]

Here is a new article about the slashing of the sentence given to the killer of Police Officer Bryson Anderson.

The case is very interesting because it deals with mandatory sentencing for the murder of a police officer: but then the murderer gets the sentence slashed by 11 years on the counts of mental illness not being fully appreciated by the court. The murderer pleaded guilty to murder. His mother pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Do you think that his guilty plea has helped him in the criminal justice process post-sentencing? Do you think that this sentence meets the expectations of the community?

[elysepopplewell]

A flight attendant in the US observer a teenage girl who looked scared and not very well dressed, in the company of an older man who was very well dressed, on a flight. She reached out to the girl on the flight and was able to organise for the police to be waiting at the plane's arrival at the destination because the teenage girl was being trafficked.

An interesting fact in the article: According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 7,572 trafficking cases were reported in the US in 2016.

Read more about it here. If you're doing human trafficking for your contemporary issue, this is great! But it also is good to know for the slavery dot point.

[elysepopplewell]

The Turnbull Government has announced that they will ratify a UN protocol on torture by the end of 2017. This comes as a response to the Don Dale Detention Centre reports of 2016.

Australia signed the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in 2009, and has been under pressure from Human Rights Groups to ratify it since. Attorney General George Brandis has committed to ratifying it by the end of the year.

This might just pave the way for independent inspections into the prisons, which would be an excellent step forward, in my opinion, to stop the administrative group directly responsible for the Detention Centre covering things up. Or have I just been watching too much Orange is the New Black?

Anyway, article here.

Edit: If you're interested in prison corruption, this just appeared to me as a suggested read. Interesting.

[elysepopplewell]

If you're doing asylum seekers or refugees as your contemporary human rights issue...it might be worth having a look at Japan's asylum seeker intake. I think that when we make evaluative statements about Australia's laws or responses, it's important to compare to other nation states to get an idea of the international standard/expectation.

In 2016, 10,901 people sought asylum in Japan, up 44 per cent from a year earlier, when the country accepted 27. (Although the title of the article says 28...)
Japan is a large donator of international aid.
Germany received 745,545 asylum applications last year, data from its Interior Ministry showed. In the same period, Berlin approved more than 256,000 requests.
The article is here.

[elysepopplewell]

This one is a bit whacky. The case itself is interesting, here we have a man who has been convicted of manslaughter before, in front of the courts again for the the homocide of an aged care worker. He's pleaded guilty to manslaughter, using the defence of substantial impairment.

One of the witnesses sent a facebook friend request to a juror the day after they presented their testimony to the court. The prosecution had to decide if they thought it was beneficial to call a retrial or continue with the current trial. After consideration for the victim's family, the case has not been sent to retrial.

Story on SMH here.

[rodero]

Here is an extremely contemporary article regarding the development of environmental rights. The Washington Times have published an article http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/23/hundreds-scientists-urge-trump-withdraw-un-climate/ (If anyone could teach me how to hyperlink, thank would be great  ) regarding recent urges to withdraw from the 'outdated' United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 300 scientists have petitioned to a letter written to President Trump, stating that the convention has led to significantly more social and economic issues, with little environmental benefits to compensate.