Law Report

We dig through recent cases with legal experts to find out when it comes to noisy neighbours who are in the right.

The New South Wales government has offered a lukewarm response to a parliamentary committee report that calls for an overhaul of the state's coronial system. And, when you are fighting with your neighbour over things like noise, trees or pets, whose side is the law on?

For the first time a journalist is allowed to record in the Thomas Embling Hospital, Melbourne's forensic healthcare facility. Meet therapists, the psychiatrist in charge and some of the patients who have committed a serious crime but are deemed not responsible for their actions due to mental illness. This episode first aired in March 2021.

Why did the actions of one juror lead to a mistrial for Bruce Lehrmann? And the case of a Brisbane motorbike accident victim who failed to secure compensation because he couldn't identify the truck that caused the incident.

The head of a team of United Nations torture experts speaks exclusively to the Law Report about the decision to suspend inspections of detention facilities in Australia. And, in a court or tribunal hearing, can one side use secret evidence that the other can't see?  

The UN is urging Australian governments to offer unlimited access to UN inspectors visiting prisons and other detention facilities around the country. And Justice Jayne Jagot has been sworn in as the newest member of the High Court and for the first time a majority of the sitting judges on Australia's highest court are women.

What do Australia's leading lawyers think about the Federal Government's plan to enshrine a First Nations' voice to parliament in the constitution? The country's top legal minds have been meeting to 'pressure test' the draft model. And how should judges be appointed?

Does the Federal Government's draft legislation for a national anti-corruption commission go far enough? And retired UK Supreme Court judge Lord Jonathan Sumption speaks to the Law Report about Julian Assange's fight against extradition to the US, the arrests of protesters following Queen Elizabeth's death, judicial appointments, and Brexit.

When police are called out to a domestic violence incident, do officers' body-worn video cameras always capture an accurate and complete record of what's taking place?

The High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of West Australian legislation that allows prisoners to be held in indefinite detention if a judge finds they could be at risk of committing a serious offence. It's feared the verdict may open the door for other states to expand the use of 'post-sentence' detention laws.