Tag: criminal lawyer
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law, Entertainment

Who’s Paying My Bus Fare?

Society's more forgettable characters sometimes prove to be life's most memorable ones. About twenty years ago I appeared for a hapless heroin addict called to give evidence at an investigative hearing which required him to be cross-examined by a very experienced and capable Queen’s Counsel.
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law, Litigation, Technology

Sifting Through The Dross

The Roman Catholic Cardinal George Pell has retained a brilliant USSR-born, Jewish lawyer to defend him.  Melbourne-based barrister Robert Richter QC has been retained to defend the Cardinal on historical sex charges. Having worked often with Robert, I can tell you the Cardinal has an excellent man in his corner. But nonetheless, many experienced lawyers are privately wondering if he can possibly get a fair trial.
  • Chris Nyst, Commissions of Inquiry, Criminal Law, Politics

More Robust Times

For many the recent retrospective by Brisbane’s Courier Mail newspaper, celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the game-changing Fitzgerald Commission of Inquiry into Police Corruption in Queensland, will have brought back memories of more robust times. Between 1987 and 1989 the inquiry, presided over by Tony Fitzgerald, then a razor-sharp and highly regarded Brisbane barrister, systematically uncovered and dismantled an entrenched culture of police corruption that led all the way to the top.
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law, Entertainment, International, Opinion

The Education Of Amasa

The Bible tells us that the sinner Saul was struck down on the road to Damascus. In a sudden flash of light from heaven, he experienced a divine, life-changing epiphany. For most of us the getting of wisdom follows an infinitely more gradual and circuitous path.
  • Criminal Law, Entertainment, Jonathan Nyst, Sport

Racy Behaviour

This weekend’s Castrol Gold Coast 600 is yet another reminder that some people just seem to be a whole lot happier when someone gets their gear off.
  • Chris Nyst, Opinion, Sport

Ali RIP

Over the weekend, a great hero passed away. Muhammad Ali was not just a giant of the sport of boxing, he was one of the most influential characters 20th century, one whose dynamic personality was an integral part of the winds of change that swept through the post-war period.
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law

Sex and the Sleepy

Life is a risky undertaking that involves an endless series of perilous decisions. Some turn out triumphant, others disastrous.
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law, Domestic Violence

Between Main and Dessert

“So what did you think of the Baden-Clay decision?” It was the question I’d been dreading all night. As soon as it hit the dinner table seven pairs of accusing eyes turned my way, waiting for the slightest slip-up. “Well…”
  • Criminal Law

Scary Stories – Making A Murderer – Wrongful Conviction

This summer many of us became budding couch detectives and expert criminologists, all from the air-conditioned comfort of our very own lounge-rooms, as we sat glued to the TV screen and on the edge of our seats, watching the rivetting Netflix series Making a Murderer. Without giving away too much for those who haven’t finished the series, Making a Murderer is a documentary treatment of the true crime story of Steven Avery, a man convicted of sexual assault and attempted murder, and then exonerated and freed from prison after serving 18 years for the crime. But the story doesn’t end there, and - SPOILER ALERT - the next shocking turn of events has left many people stunned and outraged over the terrifyingly capricious and sometimes sinister workings of the American legal system, leaving many scratching their heads and asking 'could what happened to Stephen Avery happen here in Australia?'
  • Opinion

Ocean Road Magazine Summer Issue 2016 – Chris Nyst Interview

I am thrilled to see that the current 2016 Summer Issue of the prominent lifestyle publication Ocean Road Magazine features as its cover story our own founder and principal Chris Nyst. Ocean Road is a high quality quarterly publication that celebrates the many wonderful aspects of the Gold Coast region – it's fabulous restaurants and fashion outlets, inspiring architecture, world-class events, unparalleled lifestyle and, not least of all, its incredible characters, of whom Chris is certainly one. The publishers have done a terrific job of showcasing Chris's life and achievements, and it is well worth a read. You can check it out at by clicking here.
  • Family Law

Stolen Children – Custody And International Child Abduction

Family law disputes often involve haggling over tens or hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of property, sometimes even more. With that much money at stake, things can get nasty. But without doubt the most bitter family law battles of all invariably are not the ones that concern dollars and cents, but the ones that revolve around custody and access to the children of the marriage. In the context of marriage breakdown the most terrifying prospect for any parent is the threat of international child abduction by a spouse and unfortunately, in recent decades, Australia has witnessed an alarming rise in the incidence of such abductions, spawned by the growing ease and affordability of international travel, the increasing proliferation of bi-cultural marriage, and the rapid escalation of the divorce rate.
  • Chris Nyst, International, Opinion, Politics

The Hero Of Palmyra

The armed militants of Daesh, pillaging and plundering their way across the Middle East, proclaim themselves heroes of Islam. But heroes come in all shapes and sizes.