Notes from the justice beat

Homeless shelter from the law ... Roughshagger speeds-up ... Hanger history ... Was Boy George a solicitor? 

Sorting out the boundaries of "camping" in Martin Place

IT'S heartening to see that in these straightened times the NSW DPP is ploughing resources into the prosecution of a homeless man for sleeping in Martin Place. 

Lance Priestley (interesting name?) has been homeless since 1992 and was hanging out with the Occupy Sydney movement, right outside the front door of Frederick Jordan Chambers. 

He was charged with violating the Local Government Act in that contrary to a council notice he "camped or stayed overnight" in Martin Place. 

A magistrate threw out the charge and then on appeal Michael Adams did the same. 

The Court of Appeal has now refused leave.   

We can't let the homeless get away with this sort of lounge lizard behaviour so, surely, a special leave application beckons.

The first of the two charges went nowhere because Lance was found to have left Martin Place at the relevant time, going down to Wynward to get a cup of coffee.  

In relation to the second charge, would you believe it, Channel Seven came to Lance's rescue? 

He was observed moving to an area in Martin Place next to Channel Seven's windows that had an overhanging cover supported by pillars. 

It is understood that this is not council land, so there was no violation of the "no camping or staying overnight" edict. 

This covered area will now be a magnet to the dispossessed wanting to slip free of the tentacles of the City Council and the DPP. 

Well done Channel Seven. You are not only proving accommodation for Schapelle in Bali, but shelter and immunity for the needy of Sydney. 

*   *   *

The ACT's Supremes Justice Roughshagger has delivered a judgment in an impressive 22 months. 

I don't know if this is a speed record, but lawyers in the nation's capital have rarely seen justice dispensed so rapidly. 

A legal practitioner, whose name has been carefully kept under wraps, had appealed a finding of the ACAT that he be removed from the jam roll. 

He sought justice from Roughshagger, but the speedster didn't see things the appellant's way and confirmed the orders of the tribunal. 

The practitioner had appeared in the magistrate's court without instructions on a bail application seeking to represent a women, called Ms V, charged with a domestic assault. 

In fact, he had been approached by the victim of the assault, Mr G, to appear for the alleged perpetrator. 

Mr G has been a previous client of the lawyer, when he was charged on an earlier occasion with assaulting Ms V. 

Anyway, when the matter came to the ACT Law Society the mysteriously unidentified lawyer told a pack of porkies, namely that he wasn't aware that Mr G was a victim of Ms V's assault. 

The practitioner's appeal was heard on April 26, 2012 and the judgment came down a dizzying 22 months later, on February 21, 2014.  

*   *   *

Batts Commissioner Hanger

There was an interesting piece on the Batts Royal Commish by Editor-at-Large Jack Waterford in The Canberra Times.  

Grumpy Old Jack was on about cabinet documents being supplied to Ian Hanger's inquiry, which Soapy has unleashed for the purpose of giving the dimly remembered Rudd government a nasty bite on the ankle. 

Waterford recalled a nice slice of history, namely the Queensland Supreme Court case of Carruthers v Connolly. 

There are some cites here.  

Retired NSW judge Ken Carruthers had been asked to do an inquiry for the Criminal Justice Commission into a juicy spot of Queensland political corruption - namely, whether there was a deal between Premier Russell Cooper and the Police Union to repeal the power of the government to veto senior police appointments, in exchange for a $20,000 donation to party funds. 

Cooper decided that he wanted an inquiry into the Carruthers' inquiry and he appointed ex-judges Peter Connolly and Kevin Ryan to do the job. 

In turn, Connolly appointed Ian Hanger as counsel assisting his inquiry. 

The first thing Hanger did was send a curt letter to Carruthers demanding that he hand over all the documents and records of his inquiry. 

Carruthers said he had been the subject of interference and resigned. His inquiry was completed by Bob Gotterson, who made findings that exonerated all and sundry. 

However, Carruthers and the CJC went to the Supreme Court, where Justice Thomas closed down the Connolly-Hanger inquiry, finding it was biased. 

Later, a no-confidence motion was passed in the parliament against attorney general Denver Beanland, but in the true spirit of Queensland he refused to resign. 

Old Waterford wistfully observes: 

"Perhaps Hanger's new appointment can make amends for the lost income or opportunities." 

*   *   *

Bishop Fisher

Isn't it amazing that all of a sudden George Pell is discovered by have a brilliant head for high finance and is suitably qualified to fix the Vatican's bank accounts. 

Getting him out of the country while the Royal Commission into child abuse is running hot would, of course, be a secondary consideration. 

The top contender to replace Cardinal George as Archbishop of Sydney is the cherubic Anthony Fisher, currently Bishop of Parramatta. 

He's a close ally of Pell and I'm told is referred to in church circles as "Boy George". 

Bish Fish was the organiser of Catholic World Youth Day in Sydney and made headlines during the German Pope's visit Down Under with insensitive remarks about the victims of church sexual abuse. 

"Happily, I think most of Australia was enjoying delighting in the beauty and goodness of these young people and the hope - the hope for us doing these sorts of things better in the future - as we saw last night, rather than, than dwelling crankily, as a few people are doing, on old wounds."

Boy George left Sydney in 1985 to study in Melbourne with the Dominicans. Those are the chaps who dress-up in a weird hooded outfit. 

The first Grand Inquisitor of Spain, Tomas de Torquemade, was one of the more kindly Dominicans. 

Anyway, it is mentioned in Fisher's Wikipedia's entry that he practised law before taking up with the Dominicans. 

An interview in today's Australian (Feb. 28) revealed more - that he worked at Sir Hector Clayton's law shop. 

Our research department checked the Law Almanac for 1982 to 1985, when he would have been between 22 and 25 years of age, and just before he went off to the priest factory. 

Oddly, there was no entry for an A. Fisher, either as a solicitor or barrister. 

There must be some mistake, either in the Almanacs or in Wikipedia. It's a divine mystery.