Law Report

The podcast discusses the shortage of interpreters in Australian courts, impacting access to justice for migrant and refugee communities. It highlights the challenges faced by the legal system, including unavailability of interpreters and reliance on uncertified interpreters. The accuracy and adherence to national standards are also explored, along with the variability in implementing these standards. The podcast emphasizes the denial of access to justice and potential miscarriages of justice due to interpreter shortages, suggesting the need for more interpreters and incorporating translation services.

The podcast explores the critical shortage of Indigenous interpreters in the Northern Territory's justice system and its impact on the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system. It discusses the challenges faced by interpreters, the consequences of the lack of language proficiency in the legal system, and the difficulties in finding interpreters for young people in detention. The podcast also highlights the harmful consequences faced by Aboriginal women in domestic violence situations and the ongoing issue of interpreter shortage in the Australian justice system.

This episode revisits the historic Federal Court decision to confirm native title over more than 40,000 square kilometres of sea country in the Torres Strait region last year. For the first time the claim brought together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to achieve joint native title outcomes. Traditional singing provided crucial evidence in the proceedings. Damien Carrick travelled to Waibene, or Thursday Island, to attend the outdoor sitting and to speak with traditional owners. (This program first aired in December 2022)

The Robodebt royal commission has made damning findings about government ministers and public servants who created and administered the automated debt recovery scheme from Centrelink recipients. And why is the technology company that created ChatGPT being sued in US courts? 

The National Anti-Corruption Commission commences operation this week. And a New Zealand researcher investigates how jurors respond to evidence in sexual violence cases. (Warning: the conversation discusses sexual violence and child abuse)

When refugees arrive in Australia, they face huge challenges. So, how do they access the support they need? Perhaps counterintuitively, a newly launched children's book is designed to help refugees get legal assistance.

Why did it take the justice system 20 years to work out that Kathleen Folbigg was wrongly convicted over the deaths of her four infant children? Does Australia need a better way to investigate possible miscarriages of justice?

Matthew Myers, Australia’s only Indigenous federal judge, advocates for better First Nations representation in family law courts. He discusses the historical mistrust between Indigenous communities and the legal system, stressing the need for these families to engage with courts for better outcomes. Liria Bennett-Moses, an expert on AI in law, highlights the risks of relying on tools like ChatGPT, citing a case where a lawyer faced sanctions for misconduct. The conversation underscores the need for ethical AI usage and the importance of family involvement in legal proceedings.

A judge has thrown out the defamation action brought by Ben Roberts Smith one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers against three newspapers. The judge was satisfied, to the civil standard of the balance of probabilities, that allegations Mr Roberts-Smith was involved or complicit in unlawful killings in Afghanistan were substantially true. Also, convicted serial killer Kathleen Folbigg has been pardoned and released from jail after 20 years behind bars. New scientific knowledge around the cause of death of her four children was crucial in creating reasonable doubt in her 3 murder and one manslaughter convictions.

The deepening crisis engulfing accounting giant PwC – is this a case of a few bad apples or is there a deeper structural problem? And the Victorian Law Reform Commission is proposing legislative changes to enable deaf and blind people to serve on juries.