Tag: Southport
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law, Sport

NRL Match Fixing Investigation

Today’s news that six NRL stars will be interrogated over alleged match fixing, and face jail if they refuse to co-operate with investigators, brings into sharp focus a recurring issue for professional sports people. Having endured the debacle that was the recent ASADA doping investigation into the AFL and NRL, and more recently still match fixing allegations in the sport of basketball and the greyhound industry live baiting scandal, it is very clear to me that few sports administrators, and virtually no sports men and women, have any real appreciation of the concept and purpose of the right to silence, and the interplay between contractual and legislative obligation as it affects statements against interest.
  • Compliance Law, Privacy

The Do’s And Don’ts Of Telemarketing

In Australia we have some of the strictest telemarketing laws in the world and we need to. I’m sure everyone who reads this blog has received a telemarketing call at some stage or another from someone in India, the Philippines or even South Africa.
  • Chris Nyst, Opinion, Property

Boom Town

When I was a kid my brothers and I used to watch those corny old black-and-white midday matinee movies on TV, and one of my favourites was an action adventure called “Boom Town”. It starred Clark Gable and Spencer Tracey as “Big John” Masters and “Square John” Sands, a couple of handsome wildcatters chancing their luck on the California oil fields. Together they carve out an empire in a rollicking western town where the saloons are overflowing with cowboys and dancing girls, and everyone is prospecting for something.
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law, Human Rights

A Matter Of Restraint

Today’s news out of the Broncos Rugby League headquarters about an alleged “drunken incident” involving star centre James Roberts has let more than a few old spectres out of the closet. Newspapers today reported that an allegation Roberts verbally abused a barmaid in a drunken rage at the Normanby Hotel has been referred to the NRL’s integrity unit, which reportedly imposed a 12 month alcohol ban on Roberts in 2014 following his sacking at Penrith.
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law

Can Police Just Randomly Stop and Search Me?

At festivals like Splendour in the Grass and Greazefest, music lovers have become accustomed to seeing police routinely searching people suspected of having drugs in their possession. In certain circumstances police are entitled to do that, but it’s not just open season. Police are not entitled to just randomly stop and search people for no good reason. Unless a police officer has an actual search warrant, then they’re not entitled to detain and search a person except where they suspect on reasonable grounds that person has drugs in their possession.
  • Brendan Nyst, Criminal Law, International, Opinion

Trial of the Century

I was just a kid when OJ was publicly apprehended by the LAPD. I knew little of the man known as ‘The Juice’, and had no understanding of his place in the psyche of 20th century USA. I had no idea he was so revered by the American public, or why, and had no inkling of the bloodshed that had defined LA’s racial divide in the decades preceding the case. I merely saw another celebrity on trial.
  • Chris Nyst, Litigation, Sport

The Candyman Can

Our perhaps most flamboyant and controversial client, the Gold Coast’s own Candyman, tobacco franchising supremo Mr Travers Beynon, had a win this week in the Supreme Court when Justice James Douglas froze $250,000 in sponsorship funds paid by his company Freechoice Australia to the Lucas Dumbrell V8 racing team, ahead of this weekend’s Townsville 400. As well, Justice Douglas ordered the Dumbrell team to remove the Candyman’s decals from its cars and account for all of their assets ahead of a major damages action launched by Freechoice, to be heard later this year.
  • 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?'
  • Brendan Nyst, Litigation, Opinion, Politics

Big Dog Says “Goodnight” – Queensland Lockout Laws

The hottest of hot topics in this state for the past couple of weeks has been the government’s push to implement stricter lockout laws, and tighten the rules around sales and service of alcohol. Premier Palaszczuk has made clear her willingness to die in the ditch over the issue, and without doubt her declared motives for so doing are admirable. She’s determined to reduce the instance of alcohol-fuelled violence on our streets, and who could argue against that?