Judges and Legal Profession

Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has rejected former NT Police officer Zachary Rolfe's request that she stand aside from a coronial inquest examining the death of Kumanjayi Walker.

Prominent Aboriginal legal aid service NAAJA has announced it will not take on new criminal matters in Alice Springs for the rest of the year, raising concerns some Aboriginal defendants will need to represent themselves.

The troubled firm, which is the main legal agency for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory, has had three chief executives in the past 12 months.

Kathleen Folbigg was released from prison in June after being pardoned over the deaths of her four children. A final report after an inquiry into her convictions was released on Wednesday.

Patrick O'Connor leads a team of lawyers helping refugees with migration law. He says downtime is not a word he knows.

Stephen Gageler has been sworn in as Australia's 14th Chief Justice of the High Court, taking on one of the most powerful jobs in the country.

ACT Policing has confirmed it will hold an internal review into the dropped prosecution of NRL stars Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell, but the public will likely never hear the result — and that is the standard.

The state's Attorney-General says he is taking the matter "very seriously" and the Chief Justice has asked the judge, whom the ABC understands to be Gregory Geason, to take leave "until further notice".

Kerrod James Frahm had a "duty of care to protect his son" before the 11-year-old died of a brown snake bite in 2021, magistrate says. 

Vision a defence lawyer fought to keep secret is released, showing two service station attendants being taken hostage near Newcastle, and one faking pregnancy in order to be freed.

A Specialist Indigenous List aimed at helping families navigate the legal system has launched in Newcastle, with help from the descendants of a local legend.

A legal firm has sent a call out for potential information about alleged historical child sexual abuse regarding the Shepparton branch of the Revival Centres Church from the late 1980s to the early 2010s.

Chelsea lived in "constant fear" of aggravating her father and says her childhood could have been different had she not been made to live with him. Now, changes in Australian law mean other children will hopefully be spared from the ordeal she endured.

An Tasmanian inquest hearing into the deaths of an elderly Hobart couple in 2016 comes to an abrupt end when a hand gesture from a witness towards the coroner sees the plug pulled on the video link from Queensland.

An expert giving evidence at a coronial inquest into the death of a woman who died in prison after a spit hood was placed over her head, has been stood down from giving further evidence mid-way through questioning.

From high-profile cases to leading major change within the legal profession, Susan Kiefel has steered the court through some rough waters during her time as chief justice of the High Court of Australia. 

Regional and rural communities are struggling to access legal services amid a funding review into legal aid which sees the "missing middle" who earn too much to be eligible unable to afford private representation.

More than 70 witnesses appear to give evidence in court on Bosscher Lawyers after its co-founder was charged with fraud and falsifying documents.

A complaint and investigation into the conduct of a lawyer engaged to assist Aboriginal woman Veronica Nelson has been closed, with no disciplinary action taken.

The case of a teenage boy in detention shines a light on how some of WA's most vulnerable children are missing out on support for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder due to a crippling shortage of child health professionals.

The most senior solicitor at the North Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency has "ceased employment", in the latest in a series of internal management disruptions.

In the final moments of his 40-year legal career, outgoing Supreme Court judge John Dixon called for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians and made a thinly veiled swipe at some of those opposing it.

Legal advocates hope a new pilot program, one of three nationwide, will encourage more people to report allegations of sexual violence and feel supported through the criminal justice system.

Legal experts say a program that offers intermediaries to support people with a cognitive impairment, including mental illness or intellectual disability, during police interviews and court hearings is too limited and excludes many who would benefit from it.

While the fly-in, fly-out structure is not ideal, a support service boss says it will help in a remote region where recruiting expert staff has been difficult.