Legal News - Go To Court Lawyers Legal Articles

The Defence In the quarter century over which I’ve been practising in the criminal law, I have literally lost count of the clients whose primary explanation for their actions is “I was drunk/stoned or both”. Whilst intoxication may explain a multitude of behaviours in society, does it afford a defence at law? If so, is…

What is the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA)? On 20 December 2017, the Federal Government formally re-established the Department of Home Affairs to replace the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The whole-of-government change was announced by the Prime Minister on 20 July 2017. A Ministry of Home Affairs was originally created at Federation (1901)…

New minimum passing rules for drivers overtaking cyclists in Western Australia are to be introduced as a partial modification of the state’s Road Traffic Code. The new regulations are due to take effect in Western Australia as part of the state’s traffic law from the 30th of November 2017. New minimum passing rules in WA: what do the…

Proposed changes to the NSW Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance Scheme will be detrimental to accident victims and their ability to claim compensation. The new scheme, if implemented will strictly limit common law claims to severely injured individuals and will limit claimant’s assess to legal representation. In March 2016, the NSW Government released a position…

Go To Court Lawyers has been shortlisted as a finalist in the prestigious Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards 2017 for the Innovator of the Year Award. The Australian Law Awards advocate standing out from the crowd as being essential in today’s competitive legal market which requires innovation and thinking differently. The Lawyers Weekly Innovator of…

Go To Court Lawyers’ Victoria Manager and Partner, Sylvie Maranis has been awarded Finalist in the Victoria Institute of Law’s 13th Annual Victoria Legal Awards in the Mentor of the Year category for 2017. The annual Victoria Legal Awards recognises excellence in the law across multiple categories including Law Firm of the Year, Mentor of…

National law firm Go To Court Lawyers is pleased to announce the opening of a new Brisbane CBD office on George Street. Located at 452 – 456 George Street, Brisbane, this office is situated directly across from the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law and the Roma Street Transit Centre. “The new George Street office…

Written by Tanguy Mwilambwe On 18 April 2017, the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced that there will be no more Temporary Work (Skilled) Visas subclass 457. At the same time, they announced that from 19 April 200 occupations will be removed from the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List for 457 visa…

Drones, also known as Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPAs) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) first drew attention when they were used during the war in Afghanistan. But drones are becoming smaller, lighter and cheaper – you might know someone who owns a drone. In 2015, Amazon successfully delivered its first products by drone delivery. This means…

Written by Tanguy Mwilambwe In case you have not heard, Trump’s immigration ban is dead, for now. But what about Australia? Can we implement a similar law preventing people from entering and remaining in the country on the basis of their passport or where they have recently travelled? As it turns out, Australia could see…

Today we launched a fun and interactive page which lets you assess the statistical likelihood of someone with your name being charged for a particular offence. Comparisons will be drawn and the results will surprise you. Look up your name and see for yourself.

Queensland’s 1am lockout law, which was meant to come into effect on 1 February 2017, has been abandoned. The news comes after a report conducted six months after the Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence Legislation Amendment Act 2016 came into effect. It concluded that, ‘the introduction of lockouts (one-way doors) is not likely to change current trends.’…

Written by Sylvie Maranis So that Magistrates can hear after-hours bail requests, the Victorian government is introducing a night court. The announcement comes after the Bourke Street tragedy in Melbourne on Friday, 20 January 2017. The alleged perpetrator had been released on bail by a bail justice a few days before using his vehicle to…

National law firm Go To Court Lawyers today announced its expansion into the personal injury practice area. Following strong growth in 2016, the firm seeks to implement its successful service delivery model to Australians who have suffered personal injury. “It just made sense,” said Go To Court Lawyers Partner Michelle Makela. “There are Australians out…

Senior Associate Carl Paterson Finch represented a 53-year-old woman at the Melbourne Federal Circuit Court on 1 February 2016 and 9 May 2016 in relation to her family law property proceedings. The case involved a husband and wife who separated some years ago and attempted to resolve their property matters without legal assistance. The husband…

Solicitor Belinda Robinson teamed up with Sunnykids’ Najidah homelessness service in Nambour to deliver essential goods and toys to families facing homelessness this holiday period. Belinda wanted to do something special for a charity this Christmas. Given the scourge of domestic violence that has been in the public eye, she turned her efforts towards helping…

Australia’s Westpac Banking Corporation, National Australia Bank, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia have been stopped in their tracks negotiating with Apple on its Apple Pay service. The story so far is that the banks lodged a notice to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) seeking permission to negotiate together…

Parking fines are infuriating and are even more so when they are unjustly issued.  While our blood boils to receive an infringement notice for parking in a spot that was not clearly marked or that had a confusing sign, it is hard to know when to fight the injustice. Go To Court Solicitor, secured a…

Go To Court’s Legal Hotline received a large number of phone calls from the public asking about the legality of refusing a breath test in Queensland. From our investigations, these questions were prompted by a viral YouTube video. In the video a man, presumably the Youtube uploader, repeatedly asked a police officer conducting a random…

The Go To Court Lawyers Dandenong team, led by Victorian State Manager Sylvie Maranis, have reduced client debt from over $200,000 to $1,500. Some clients had even risked a one-year jail sentence and had their fines reduced to nothing. One case was a debt of over $100,000 and the infringement was reduced to $0. What…