A Barrister's Blog
The Lighter Side of Law
by Paul Cutler
Master Sanderson
Master Sanderson was appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 1996. I have only just become aware (where have I been?) of his judicial sense of humour. For example in Christie v Christie [2016] WASC 45 (a family provision matter) he made this comment about the last witness for the defendant:
[29] The final witness called by the defendant was Gabrielle Therese Crofts. Mrs Crofts is the elder sister of Ms McNamara. Mrs Crofts has a number of qualifications and has worked for a number of years in the area of domestic violence. She is also a psychic detective. Her affidavit evidence was consistent with the evidence of her sister and her mother. However she was not a satisfactory witness. She had a great deal of difficulty offering concise answers to simple and straightforward questions. She came across as a warrior against domestic violence and I was not satisfied she brought an open and fair mind to the task of giving evidence. That is not to say she was dishonest or that she in any way attempted to mislead the court. It was simply I did not find her a helpful witness. In the end I determined I would not take her evidence into account in determining this application. Given her psychic powers Mrs Crofts probably anticipated this outcome
Creative commons acknowledgement for the photograph.
The Crusade
A large number of the solicitors who have briefed me over the years have heard me preach about my one man crusade against service by post. Service sounds like a simple concept. It is. So why are there a disproportionate number of cases about service in the...
Damn Statistics
State obligations under international human rights treaties can be "derogated" if there are "exceptional circumstances of war or other public emergency". This is often used as the justification for the introduction (including in Australia) of tough anti-terrorism...
The Mugshot
Some of you may have read this story in the press recently. Victoria Police launched a Facebook campaign for information from the public in respect of an arrest warrant that was issued for Bendigo man, Daniel Damon after he failed to answer bail for drug and traffic...
The Speech
I was recently reading an article in the Australian Feminist Law Journal (who would have thought?) entitled "Telling a History of Australian Women Judges Through Courts' Ceremonial Archives". At a judicial swearing in, speeches are given to welcome the new judge (who...
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