Criminal Law & Lawyers

Are you in trouble with the law? If so, a professional specialist criminal lawyer will provide you with the highest quality representation in all sorts of criminal matters and criminal proceedings.

If you need a Criminal Lawyer then please complete our free legal enquiry form, located on the right, or click here.

Specialist Criminal Lawyers generally cover matters involving the following:

• Serious drink driving, DUI and PCA offences
• major road traffic offences and traffic charges
• Public Order Offences
• Murder, Manslaughter
• Common Assualts
• Assualts involving Grevious Bodily Harm (GBH), Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and other Assaults
• Drugs offences including Possession with Intent to Supply drugs / Drug Importation / Drug Production
• Fraud offences and ID fraud
• Robbery / Armed Robbery
• Blackmail / Extortion / Threats to Kill and related offences
• Theft from Employer
• Benefit Fraud
• Organised Crime / Conspiracy
• Proceeds of Crime
• Political / High Profile
• Terrorism
• Money Laundering
• Sexual Offences
• Bail Applications
• Youth offences
• Representation of Professionals and People with no Previous Convictions
• Representation of People with previous convictions and criminal record
• Criminal Appeals against Conviction or Sentence
• Police Station Interviews
• Cyber crime and computer crime

If you need a Criminal Lawyer then please complete our free legal enquiry form, located on the right, or click here.

Specialist Criminal lawyers also provide representation with respect to the following 'serious criminal offence, some of which have already been mentioned above:

• Murder or attempted murder
• Indecent Assault
• Use of firearms
• offences against children
• Rape and other sexual assult type matters
• Wounding/gbh with intent
• Wounding/gbh without intent
• False imprisonment
• Arson and criminal damage endangering life
• Robbery, larceny and other matters relating to theft
• Aggravated burglary
• Two or more offences of burglary
• Dealing, being concerned in the supply, or intending to supply any controlled drug
• Serious motor vehicle crimes
• Aggravated vehicle taking
• Breach of good behaviour Bond

If you need a Criminal Lawyer then please complete our free legal enquiry form, located on the right, or click here.

Some basic general information regarding criminal law (for information purposes only):

Criminal Law is law which involves the state (The Crown) bringing a prosecution against an individual. Only crimes (or offences) which already exist in law can be used to prosecute people. These are laid down by Parliamentary Law (statutes like the Crimes Act 1900, or by previous decided case history in the courts (common law).

Innocent until proven Guilty?

To convict someone of an offence, the Prosecution has to show the court that the person has committed the offence to a level of certainty which is very high. The phrase that judges use is "you must be satisfied so that you are sure". Verdicts along the lines of "he probably did it," or "if she didn't do it, who else did?", are not usually enough for a conviction. The prosecution must show beyond reasonable doubt that the offence occurred and was done by the accused person (or the defendant). In the eyes of the Criminal Courts, not sure is not guilty.

Juries and Judges

In the criminal courts, there are generally two levels of court. The first level is the Magistrates Court. This court deals with less serious types of offence, such as most motoring offences and drink driving, or low value thefts and less serious assaults. However, this court can still impose prison sentences.

In the District Court, a jury of 12 memebers will be first told that they have to find the defendant guilty or not guilty by unanimous vote. If no verdict can be reached, a re-trial may be ordered.

What the Prosecution must prove:

The prosecution must prove two things: that the accused did it, and did it on purpose.

Defences

Just because someone is guilty of committing an illegal act, and of meaning it/knowing it was wrong, that doesn't definitely mean that they are guilty of the offence. They might have a defence, or a good reason why they should not be convicted.

If someone committed an offence while, for example, protecting themselves or their family, then that could be a defence which would help them avoid being found guilty.

Self Defence / Defence of Someone Else / Defence of Property and other defences

If someone commits an offence of violence (such as assault) to prevent getting injured, to prevent someone else getting injured, or to protect his or her property, then that can sometimes mean they are entitled to a defence. The force used must be necessary, and reasonable. That means there must be no other obvious course of action to avoid the injury or damage (such as moving away top avoid the situation), and the level of force used must be proportionate to the threat - the fact that the defendant thought the action was reasonable is not enough to suggest that it was. However, the jury have to accept the facts as the defendant honestly believed them to be at the time, even if he or she was mistaken. So if the jury believe that a defendant honestly thought that his attacker had a knife and so attacked him, the jury have to take that belief into account. Then they can consider whether his reaction, for example stabbing the attacker first, was reasonable by their standard.

If you need a Criminal Lawyer then please complete our free legal enquiry form, located on the right, or click here.

Mental Defences

There are other defences which relate to the mental state of the person who is accused. They include:

Automatism

This is a defence when the act has been done unconsciously and involuntarily, “done by the muscles without any control by the mind”. There must be a total loss of control of the body and it cannot be self-induced, so alcohol related blackouts don’t count.

Diminished Responsibility

This is a partial defence to murder only. It can reduce murder to manslaughter. Generally speaking, the defendant must prove that he was suffering from an abnormality of mind caused by something inherent and which substantially impaired the defendant’s responsibility for the killing. It does not have to be the only cause provided it still substantially impaired the mental responsibility of the defendant.

Provocation

This is another partial defence to murder, but is not a defence to any other offences. There are two stages to the test for provocation: The first is that the defendant must have been provoked and lost his self control. This depends on the evidence and what the jury decides. The second stage is to decide whether the provocation was enough to make a reasonable man react in that way.

If you need a Criminal Lawyer then please complete our free legal enquiry form, located on the right, or click here.

Each state and territory has its own criminal laws, as follows:

New South Wales

Criminal offences under New South Wales law are based on the common law and some statutory provisions in the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).

Victoria

Most crimes in Victorian jurisdiction are codified in the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic.). There are also a number of common law provisions for criminal conduct within Victoria.

Queensland

The Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld) is the primary instrument for the source of criminal law in Queensland. The Criminal Code Act was largely the product of Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland (and formerly Premier).

South Australia

Most crimes in South Australia are codified in the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA). There are also a number of common law provisions for criminal conduct in South Australia.

Tasmania

Tasmania's serious criminal offences, like those in Queensland and Western Australia, are set in a single piece of legislation, the Criminal Code Act 1924. This includes serious offences against the person (murder, manslaughter, death by dangerous driving, wounding, rape, sexual assault), against property (computer crimes, stealing, burglary, robbery and the like) and against society (bribery of public officials, treason, etc.).

Like the Queensland and Western Australian legislation, the mental element (or mens rea) is located under section 13 of the Code, requiring that an act or omission be "voluntary and intentional" for a crime to have occurred. The intent of this is to rule out circumstances where a person is not in control of their own actions - for instance, automatism, insanity, and for some offences, intoxication.

There are numerous other laws where criminal offences may be found. These include the Firearms Act (offences relating to ownership or use of firearms or ammunition), the Police Offences Act (less serious criminal acts and breaches of the peace), the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Act for drink driving, amongst many others.

Western Australia

Western Australia has an almost exhaustive codification of criminal law in a Criminal Code substantially based on the Queensland one.

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory has also an almost exhaustive codification of criminal Law in a similar Criminal Code to that of Queensland and Western Australia. In fact, the drafting of the NT Criminal Code Act 1983, reflected aspects of both the QLD and WA Criminal Codes.

If you need a Criminal Lawyer then please complete our free legal enquiry form, located on the right, or click here.

Further Resources - Criminal Law & Lawyers

Additional Information - Criminal Law & Lawyers