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(07) 5532 3133
24 Hour Crime Line
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Domestic Violence

Potts Lawyers > Domestic Violence

Bill Potts comments on domestic violence laws six months after horrific murders

Hannah Clarke's parents call for stronger domestic violence laws six months after horrific murders   Six months on from the shocking murders of Hannah Clarke and her three children, domestic violence advocates are calling for coercive control and petrol dousing to be established as offences in Queensland. Ms Clarke, 31, and her children, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey, were murdered in Brisbane's Camp Hill after her estranged husband Rowan Baxter ambushed them on the morning school run on February 19. Baxter, doused them with petrol and set the car alight before he died of self-inflicted stab wounds nearby. The three children — aged, six, four...

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What Does “Choking” Mean in Queensland? A New Court of Appeal Decision Provides Us with a Definition

What Does “Choking” Mean in Queensland? A New Court of Appeal Decision Provides Us with a Definition On 5 May 2016, an offence of choking, suffocating or strangulation in a domestic setting was introduced in Queensland following a recommendation made by the Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence in Queensland (“the Taskforce”) in their Not Now, Not Ever: Putting an end to domestic and family violence in Queensland report. In order to prove an offence of choking, suffocating or strangulation, the police must prove (beyond a reasonable doubt) that: the accused choked, suffocated or strangled another person; the above act was...

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Domestic Violence Proceedings – Costs on Appeal

Article by Adam Moschella, Criminal Lawyer at Potts Lawyers   Given the prevalence of applications for protection orders being filed and heard by the Magistrates Court parties can sometimes be put to unnecessary expense responding to said applications, especially where those applications are then appealed to the District Court. With most being justified applications by those genuinely requiring protection, some applicants seek orders with the intention of using the order against the responding party to, for example gain an unfair advantage against a party in family law proceedings. 1. Can costs be awarded in domestic violence proceedings? Traditionally, where applications for protection orders are heard and...

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Bill Potts comments on domestic violence issues in Queensland

Our Founding Director and current Queensland Law Society Deputy President, Bill Potts, was interviewed by the Gold Coast Sun on the funding issues exacerbating domestic violence in Queensland. Although he said the Queensland Government had managed some great results and he was aware funding only went so far, former head of the Queensland Law Society and leading criminal lawyer Bill Potts said a lack of focus on DV perpetrators could be exacerbating the issue. “Within that DV area, while a lot of focus is on victim support and specialist courts there is a massive need for diversion programs for perpetrators,” he said. “The...

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Domestic violence: Bill Potts says blanket bail refusal not the answer

Changes should be made in the way courts deal with domestic violence offenders with mental health issues, rather than making bail harder to secure, a prominent Queensland lawyer has argued. The LNP has pledged to introduce laws reversing the onus of proof for bail on domestic violence cases in the first sitting week of Parliament in 2017. Queensland Law Society immediate past president Bill Potts says reversing the onus of proof for bail in domestic violence cases is not the answer.    The LNP’s legislation would cover people charged over domestic violence-related incidents, including offences of strangulation, assault, deprivation of liberty and kidnapping. That means...

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