The extradition process for Australian citizen Neil Prakash could be prolonged, as Turkey and other countries may want to interrogate him or seek his extradition.
Should the government be able to use intellectual property laws to control who can criticise its health policies by using the Medicare logo?
AAP/Joel Carrett
Using intellectual property laws to try to shut down Mark Rogers’ ‘Save Medicare’ website shows how these laws serve to restrict free speech and advance government privatisation agendas.
Susan Kiefel after she was sworn in as a High Court judge in 2007. She is now Australia’s first female High Court chief justice.
AAP/Andrew Sheargold
Women’s exclusion from legal and political power for much of last century makes Susan Kiefel’s appointment all the more significant.
The federal court dismissed claims brought under the Racial Discrimination Act against three Queensland University of Technology students under section 18C.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
The time is right for a crash course on section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, its exemptions and the powers of the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Marchers at a “traditional marriage” rally in Sydney’s Belmore Park on September 20, 2015.
AAP/Richard Milnes
The “Fuck Fred Nile” case highlights the absurdity of criminalising “fleeting expletives” while allowing speech that depicts homosexuality as abnormal, unnatural and sinful.
Gable Tostee was found not guilty of the murder of Warriena Wright, who fell from his balcony.
AAP/Dan Peled/Queensland Supreme Court
Cases of homicide by falling are rare. But the Gable Tostee case is not the first instance of a fall from a building causing death being linked to criminal conduct.
The attorney-general holds a largely political office, sitting in cabinet and often holding other portfolios.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Ministers of religion who support marriage equality would be able to challenge the Marriage Act in the High Court. They would stand a good chance of winning.
The plebiscite on whether Australia should legalise same-sex marriage is constitutionally unnecessary.
AAP/Alan Porritt
It’s the plebiscite Australia doesn’t have to have. But if the plebiscite on marriage equality goes ahead, how should it be designed?
Malcolm Turnbull has called for nationally consistent laws to enable convicted terrorists to be detained at the end of their prison sentence.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
In what circumstances can police search your phone? Must they obtain a search warrant? And what will happen if you refuse to provide your passcode or fingerprint required to access your phone?
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party is seen as the favourite to secure the final WA Senate position.
AAP/Lukas Coch
One Nation candidate Rod Culleton could win Western Australia’s final Senate position, but Section 44 of the Constitution suggests he is ineligible to take his seat.
Most people against recognising Aboriginal customary law think there’s only one law in Australia.
AAP/Joe Castro
Few in Australia understand the context and true meaning of customary law. Denials of its validity are often based on ignorance or on specific examples devoid of context.
Families going through breakdown need understanding, but so do lawmakers trying to find fair outcomes from complex laws.
Shutterstock
None of the politicians are talking about it, but threats to freedom of speech have emerged in three different guises in the first three weeks of the election campaign. First there was the assailing of…
Informed critique of the courts and their work is essential to the proper functioning of a democracy.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
A “judicial activist”, it seems, decides cases in favour of a preferred (non-“mainstream”) litigant or interest, to reach a result that is inconsistent with a conservative worldview.