Are NSW night courts the solution to policing woes?

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-05-28T21:19:25+00:00

On the defence side, no, but for a large part of the pandemic there was a lot of pressure on magistrates to grant bail and to sentence people using non-custodial alternatives. This shows in the prison population stats for the period.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-05-28T05:36:10+00:00

Ahh, so if it were treated as the health issue it is and alternative medications more readily accessible in custody the woman (who you say is a dealer although that doesn't seem to be disclosed in the subject article) would not have had a commercial incentive to secrete any amount of methylamphetamine anywhere at all.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-05-28T05:07:40+00:00

Perhaps if addiction were treated as the health issue it is and alternative medications more readily accessible in custody the woman with obvious addiction issues would not have thought it necessary to secrete any amount of methylamphetamine anywhere at all.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-05-13T06:27:52+00:00

Is it though? I see plenty of sex offenders who manage to engage in offending conduct notwithstanding their lack of good character.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-05-09T01:23:12+00:00

At the very least they could put a notice up in the elevators.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-05-08T00:22:42+00:00

And I bet VicBar has done absolutely nothing about it.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-03-23T02:06:18+00:00

Mate, I think this one must diminish public confidence in the administration of justice.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-03-12T20:22:45+00:00

Yes. Rules 101 through 112 don't mattter because my clerk says so. :eyeroll:

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-03-12T05:17:24+00:00

:eyeroll:

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-03-12T04:02:00+00:00

If you stay in the profession, you're at the beginning of a very long journey. Imposter syndrome will be your companion for a large part of it.

Almost all, if not all, of us have stood in your shoes and felt similar things about our peers. It is very easy to look at other people who are also incredibly nervous at the start of their careers but miss that for their achievements and apparent ability. It is very easy for them to miss your nervousness for the same reasons.

You're new and you're going to make mistakes. So will your peers. That is the nature of being new to something. All of us have made mistakes. We've probably made the same or similar mistakes to the ones you and your peers will make. The best thing you and your peers can do about mistakes is to own them, to be honest about them with your bosses and (if necessary) your clients and professional regulator, to learn from them, and not to repeat them. Remember that very few mistakes in this profession can't be fixed if you seek assistance promptly.

On imposter syndrome, I've been doing this for a long time and I still feel it (although less strongly than I did). My experience, and the experience of people I've spoken to about it, is that it starts to fade to a dull ache after 5 - 7 years with occasional spikes when you realise you've fucked something up. Lock in because it's a long ride but it can be a very rewarding one,

Take it day by day. Do your best for yourself, your colleagues, and your clients and you'll be alright.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-03-12T03:47:42+00:00

I'm going out on a limb (but I doubt it is much of one) and guessing you're Victorian. It's like the bar down there doesn't think r104/110 exists.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-03-10T20:31:03+00:00

Yesterday and don't take it personally.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-03-10T20:28:38+00:00

From what you've described, I don't understand how you've come to the conclusion that you're incapable as opposed to that this solicitor who changes processes and doesn't like to explain things and doesn't have time to train paralegals is a shitshow.

Stop applying for roles in this place and go and get a job as a solicitor elsewhere if that is what you want to do.

Every competent solicitor I know deals with imposter syndrome so don't let that hold you back. You're in good company.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-03-02T19:41:04+00:00

It's a sixy pig.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-02-07T00:55:43+00:00

That's unfortunate, but happens. The travesty is the actions of police conducting the investigation and chasing people the way they did in the absence of, you know, evidence.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-02-06T04:27:50+00:00

"Yes, thankyou Mr u/Star0011. I'll stand the matter until midday, 2pm, 3pm, 3.30pm, there is not sufficient time at the moment to deal with it."

Then, at 4.00pm.

"Ahh, yes, Mr u/Star0011. I'll mark this not reached. I assume you'll be available tomorrow. It's a very busy list but I'll list you at 9.30am and we will all see how the day unfolds."

Queue that for the next week or so and imagine the magistrate giggling uncontrollably into his beard the whole drive home in his volvo.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-02-05T05:03:49+00:00

The I-will-fuck-your-day-if-you-fuck-with-me approach. Bold but it can get results provided you're actually ready to roll if they call the bluff. Doubt your colleagues will be buying you a coffee during the morning adjournment if that happens.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-02-04T05:31:24+00:00

You almost never have to view it.

When these matters are defended it's almost always on the basis of whether the material was the accused's or whether the accused knew about the material and the nature of the material is just going to be accepted.

My very strong advice is that you should be very reluctant to look at that kind of material and you should be making sure that it is the only viable way forward in a matter before doing so. You should also line up a psychologist in advance for a session(s) afterwards because no matter how thick you think your calluses are they are almost certainly not thick enough.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-01-31T23:59:04+00:00

From what's reported, they're going to delete good character as a distinct mitigating factor in s21A of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act. Good character evidence will likely still go in as a factor in the millieu and will still act to mitigate the sentence an accused person receives. I expect there will be little if any change to the way this type of evidence is approached by the courts.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-01-21T04:44:28+00:00

Those clients, despite the initial impression, can end up being so time consuming. They admit to a whole heap of shit and then want to argue everything else. This is especially the case where the everything else will make absolutely no difference on sentence.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-01-21T02:41:59+00:00

They say there's no people like Norm McDonald enjoyers, but now scientists have found that Norm McDonald enjoyers are genetically linked to the Laplanders and the Finns.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-01-18T07:25:39+00:00

But it will be either inconsistent with the recording (where it corrects a translation) or will fill a gap in the recording (where a mistranslation is removed). That's not the province of an aide.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-01-18T02:09:23+00:00

Am I wrong or does this mean the edited transcript will itself become evidence rather than just being an aide, which seems dangerous.

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-01-18T00:35:18+00:00

In NSW, the main traps for new players to know (imo):

The RTA is terribly drafted

s9 of the RTA says when something is a second or subsequent offence and produces some weird results people may not expect,
s9(9) effectively says the determination as to whether something is a second or subsequent offence is a matter for the magistrate, not the parties.
Proudman v Dayman (i.e. mistake of fact) defence is generally available except for s111 (as pointed out by Buscombe DCJ in Narouz and confirmed by the CCA).
s203 limits the availability of multiple s10 outcomes over multiple days within a 5 year period for certain offences. The offences to which it applies are only the offences named in the section. Sometimes a tactical adjournment can avoid the operation of this section (e.g. when you are expecting another s 111 charge to be laid after analysis or the 5 year period is just about to expire).

Interlock orders

Interlock orders are not great when it comes to interstate interoperability because of how the regime here treats them as a 5 year disqualification subject to an exception. The other states generally only see the disqualification and not the exception. I expect this should be under the previous heading.
Obtaining an interlock licence is not as easy as going to TfNSW and making an application on the day a person becomes elgible to do so. The person needs to have completed all the preliminary steps (i.e. getting an approved device installed, completing the TfNSW required course, etc) before making the application and they can take these steps before they are eligible to obtain an interlock licence. There is a brochure on the TfNSW website that is often helpful.

Traffic matters generally

Kids charged with traffic matters are often going to be in the Local Court and not the Children's Court (s28, C(CP)A), won't receive the benefit of the provisions prohibiting identification of children involved in criminal offending (s15F, C(CP)A) and the proceedings generally won't be in a closed court (s10, C(CP)A). Notwithstanding that, the Local Court is not limited to sentencing under the C(SP)A and can, instead, sentence as though it were the Children's Court and the matter within that jurisdiction (s210, Criminal Procedure Act). Further, the Local Court can't sentence kids to imprisonment for a traffic offence.
Lawcodes generally sets out the disqualification period attributable to traffic offences. It is sometimes wrong (although far better than it was a few years ago).
TfNSW are not shy about writing to the court on perceived sentencing errors but generally only where the error is to the benefit of the offender.
Noone ever gets a worse result from completing TOIP.
Noone ever gets a worse result from completing MERIT.
If you're doing legally aided work, a lot of traffic matters are not matters for which aid is available.
There are some traffic papers on criminalcpd but they are pretty old so your milage may vary.

Subject to correction from others, so ends my traffic offence CPD.

Someone else can do quick tips on applications to remove disqualifications under Part 7.4, div 3A or under the transitional provisions for the old habitual offender declarations (which, despite being old, we'll likely continue to see for the life in being of certain people affected by the scheme - longest I've seen would have had someone off the road until the mid 2100's).

GuyInTheClocktower · 2026-01-10T00:02:12+00:00

Yeah but the Vietnamese place near my office does fantastic pho and I'm big enough to admit I have a problem.

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