The Wigs

In this episode the Wigs dig into some of the legal and factual issues surrounding the extraordinary US military operation that captured sitting Venezuelan President Maduro in the early hours of 3 January 2026 and transferred him to New York to face an indictment alleging drug trafficking. Was the operation legal? What are the charges and what are the prospects of a successful defence? The episode provides a brief outline of these issues as the world awaits what will be a fascinating and complex criminal prosecution.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, two Members of the Legislative council, our own Stephen Lawrence and the Honourable Jeremy Buckingham MLC, Legalise Cannabis Party, sit down for a long chat. Felicity is present for the beginning of the chat, but had to depart, leaving the two MLC's to do what MLC's do best, talk a lot. The conversation begins with some law reform legislation that Jeremy is advocating for, but then moves on to a discussion of Jeremy's fascinating life and political story, including the brutal political battle that led him to leave the Greens as a first-term MP. It concludes with a discussion of the work Jeremy is doing to expose what he believes is the truth about serial killer Ivan Milat.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode the Wigs discuss a trio of recent high court decisions that deal with a pretty new question, when can a civil claim for sexual abuse said to have occured many decades ago be fairly tried, even when the alleged assailant has died and much related evidence lost. This question has emerged following the abolition by state parliaments of statutes of limitation, that previously prevented such "historical" claims from being advanced. The discussion touches on a number of fundamental legal questions including what is a fair trial, what is abuse of process and how and when can the parliament legislate to effectively alter these principles. The cases discussed are Willmot v The State of Queensland [2024] HCA 42, RC v The Salvation Army (Western Australia) Property Trust [2024] HCA 43 and GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore[2023] HCA 32. Now,See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our final episode for 2024! This is part 2 of our speed round - answering your questions! If you have a question for the Wigs, feel free to shout out to us onFacebook. And don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast.  Have a happy and safe holiday break and new year to all our lovely, loyal listeners. We love you! Jim, Flic, Manny and Steve.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode Stephen sits down for a wide ranging chat with Barrister Ghassan Kassisieh. The discussion is lengthy and covers lgbt rights, international politics, refugees, the politicisation of gay rights in the Israeli / Palestinian conflict and comparative law, among other things. Ghassan is a Barrister at 12 Wentworth Selbourne chambers in Sydney after being called to the Bar in September 2024. He has a public and commercial law practice. Ghassan was previously Legal Director at Equality Australia where his legal policy advocacy contributed to over 16 LGBTIQ+ legislative reforms, including Australia’s first scheme regulating medical procedures performed on intersex people without capacity to consent. Ghassan also has over 13 years’ experience working as a solicitor in commercial litigation and regulatory matters at Gilbert + Tobin in Sydney and Freshfields in London. We hope you enjoy the chat!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode the wigs analyse the latest judgment in the federal prosecution of donald trump, in which the trial judge soundly rejected his application to terminate the prosecution on the basis that the biden administration is targeting him in a selective and vindictive manner. Judge Chutkan in rejecting the application also refused the former president discovery of documents in support of his application on the basis it was not supported by sufficiently cogent evidence. The Wigs in analysing the case compare the basis on which a political prosecution can be terminated in the USA with Australia and discuss cases here that have featured somewhat similar issues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In March this year, the Wigs were back to record a live show at the Reasonable Cause Continuing Professional Development Conference. The topic was Ethics for Defence Lawyers and the panel discussion you are about to hear examined the basis of ethical obligations, the nature of the fiduciary obligations lawyers have, common ethical breaches, some of the reasons why they occur, and how lawyers should respond to complaints. Reasonable Cause CPD gives 100% of its net profit to Reasonable Cause Inc., a charity that focuses on assisting disadvantaged young Cambodians to advance their education. Friend of The Wigs Mark Dennis SC runs Reasonable Cause and The Wigs are always happy to assist a very reasonable cause by donating their time. More info on reasonable cause at rccpd.net.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode recorded on 19 December 2023, the wigs analyse the decision of the High Court in NZYQ v Minister for Immigration 2023 HCA 37, one of the most important public law decisions in recent decades which was handed down on 28 November 2023. In the decision, the court unanimously overturned an earlier decision in Al-Kateb. It held that long-standing constitutional principles forbid indefinite detention of non-citizens who cannot be removed from Australia. The judgment has been massively controversial and the federal parliament legislated in December last year in response to it to create a system of monitoring and regulation applying to those persons affected directly by the decision. We do apologise for the delay in releasing the episode but we hope it's still an interesting and useful discussion of one of the most important principles in Australian constitutional law, that detention is prima facie punitive and can generally only be imposed by a court following an adjudication of guilt.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to the Wigs for a brand new year! We have been on an extended summer break and hope you have enjoyed a great break too. In this episode,recorded at the end of last year, The Wigs examine a recent decision of NSW District Court Judge Newlinds in R v Martinez. The judgment has already been the subject of much media attention and concerns a successful costs application made by Martinez following their acquittal on four charges of sexual assault. The judge, in awarding a costs certificate to the accused, made scathing criticisms of the Director of Public Prosecutions and raised concerns that in sexual offence matters the DPP is applying a surreptitious and improper policy under which sexual offences are prosecuted without proper regard to the strength of the Crown case. The DPP responded furiously to the judgment publicly stating a Judicial Commission complaint would be made against Judge Newlinds. The case raises unusual factual matters and interesting legal and policy matters. Now,See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode the wigs discuss Vanderstock and Victoria a very fiscally important recent decision of the High Court of Australia. The constitution reserves to the federal government the power to levy excises, essentially taxes on goods. The issue in Vanderstock was whether the Victorian government's electric vehicle levy, charged to owners per km of use was in fact an excise and therefore constitutionally invalid. Victoria said no, the Cth and Vanderstock said yes. In finding the levy invalid the majority departed from decades of case law and potentially fundamentally altered the fiscal balance across the federation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week the panel look at a truly unusual and interesting decision from Justice Wigney of the Federal Court which involved a serving federal judge being ordered to pay damages for wrongfully imprisoning a man he jailed for contempt of court. Stradford (a pseudonym) v Judge Vasta 2023 FCA 1020 has already had massive ramifications. Some judges have reportedly refused to sit since it was handed down, calls for a standing federal judicial commission to investigate judicial misconduct have been renewed and the decision has been appealed by multiple parties setting the stage for a final determination of the limits of judicial immunity at common law. The judgment of Justice Wigney delved into the fascinating question of when a judge can be sued for conduct on the bench and involved the surveying of hundreds of years of case law on point. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week the wigs examine the federal government’s proposed Communications Legislation Amendment (Combating Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill. The draft Bill released by the Albanese government proposes a method to combat the phenomenon of Misinformation and Disinformation, said to be a growing and pressing problem accompanying the explosion in social media and the internet more broadly. The draft Bill has sparked a national conversation around free speech and the extent of the harms posed by false information. Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay posed the issue this way in an op-ed in The Australian on Thursday 24 August 2023. "Despite being labelled the “word of the decade” in 2021, fake news is not a modern phenomenon. Misinformation has been spread for political gain since Octavian used fake news to discredit Mark Antony in ancient Rome. What is different today is the way modern technology makes it easier to spread fake news around the world but harder to distinguish fact from fiction. Misinformation and disinformation can have devastating effects on human rights, social cohesion and democratic processes. Australia needs to address these risks. But this needs to be balanced with ensuring we don’t unduly affect freedom of expression". See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.