Law Report - Separate Stories Podcast

Jeremy Lee, an employee at a Queensland timber mill was sacked for refusing to use a finger print scanner to sign-in to work. He represented himself at the full bench of the Fair Work Commission and won his unfair dismissal case.

A Melbourne cafe has been ordered to pay an Instagram 'influencer' $1,600 after a verbal contract between the parties sours.

Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Nor has been found guilty of the third degree murder and second degree manslaughter of Australian Justine Damond Ruszczyk. Also on the program, the Federal Court has ordered Australia Rush Rich Winery pay the owners of Penfolds $400,000 for trademark infringement. And in a separate case, the Federal Court has ruled that Bega has the exclusive right to sell peanut butter in a jar with a distinctive yellow lid and a distinctive yellow label.

If you are serving a prison sentence and an appeal court quashes your conviction and sets you free, will you receive compensation for the time you spent behind bars? It depends on where you live.

Evidence is used to prove or disprove the facts of a case, but what happens to it after the legal process is over? A new book In crimes archives; the cultural afterlife of evidence provides some intriguing clues.

Justice Wigney of the Federal Court has ruled that the Daily Telegraph newspaper defamed actor Geoffrey Rush by claiming he had sexually harassed an actor later to be revealed as Eryn Jean Norvill. And the High Court of Australia has upheld the constitutional validity of protest exclusion zones around abortion clinics.

The High Court of Australia is about to hear a case that asks big questions about families and parentage. And Private Accessory Prosecutors, the role of victims in German courts and trials.

From the age of twelve Tara Schultz was groomed by a much older man, sexually abused and became addicted to drugs. Now 31 she survived, sought justice through the courts and has completed a university degree.

Mandatory rehabilitation for children and young people with serious substance abuse problems is being debated in both South Australia and Victoria.

For the first time, the High Court of Australia will hear a case that focuses on the extent to which public servants can freely express their political views. And Argentina's Women Police Stations, designed around the needs of survivors of gender-violence. Could they work in Australia?

Strangulation is sometimes fatal, often causes permanent injury and is a strong predictor of future violence and death. What are the current laws and strategies in place to deal with strangulation in family violence cases?

Veteran journalist John Silvester discusses underworld lawyer Nicola Gobbo who has been revealed as a police informer. And in a world first, a Victorian judge has awarded damages to a former Age journalist who suffered PSTD while working as a crime reporter.

Australia's most senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell, has been found guilty of multiple child sexual offences.

The Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council has released a report that shines a light on Victorian animal cruelty offenders and the sentences they receive. And Dr Shih-Ning Then's new book explores the ethics and legal issues around tissue donors for sick siblings.

How well has the Banking Royal Commission served the interests of consumers? Also on the program in Queensland the Industrial Court has ruled that a former employee of McDonalds who broke her leg during a break is entitled to Workers Compensation.

When a death is not straight forward, a coronial inquest can play a crucial role in addressing unanswered questions and it can also make recommendations that might prevent future fatalities. But how well does our coronial system serve the needs of grieving families?

In recent years there has been an explosion in the use of Audio Visual Links (AVLs) between prisons and courtrooms. This development has been welcomed by many prisoners, but some don't like being 'reduced to a bunch of pixels'.

In the age of Artificial Reproductive Technology extracting sperm from dead men is possible, and it happens more often than you think.

The Jesuit Social Services report, All Alone - Young Adults in the Victorian Justice System, calls for radical reforms around the use of solitary confinement.