Enough is Enough
Sponsors
HSC Legal Studies - Journey Towards Justice Day
Journey Towards Justice 1 day Seminar is an invaluable tool for HSC Legal studies students and teachers and is not to be missed! They will learn how the NSW Legal System works from leading professionals with first hand knowledge, contrasted with the contradictions of that system presented by those who have experienced some of the consequences including Police and Victims.
10th November 2010
$15.00 per attendee (not incl. transport)
Registration at 8 am
Seminar begins promptly at 9 am
Completion will be 3.30 pm
Morning Tea provided
Attendees to provide own lunch or to source alternate dining arrangements
Wesley Conference Centre, 220 Pitt St, Sydney
REGISTER ONLINE NOW or CALL US on 9542 4029! PLACES ARE LIMITED!
Addresses by:
- A Representative from the NSW Attorney General's Office
- Broadcaster Radio 2UE - John Stanley
- Director of Public Prosecutions - Nicholas Cowdery AM QC
- Former Supreme Court Judge - The Honourable Greg James QC
- Public Defender
- A Practising Criminal Lawyer - Michael Vassili LL.B.
- A Representative from Corrective Services - Garry Lockhart - Manager of Security
- A High Ranking Police Officer - Inspector David Firth
- A Representative of Victims of Crime - Howard Brown - VOCAL
Please click on link below to find more information about our last seminars :
Journey Towards Justice 21.10.08 - Report
Sydney Masonic Centre 21 October 2008
Report by Elisabeth Elford, EIE Administration Manager
Our Legal Studies Day - Journey Towards Justice, held on October 21, 2008, at the Sydney Masonic Centre saw even more students taking advantage of the chance to see such highly respected speakers with the opportunity to ask questions.
Each speaker fielded questions after their segment, but we still had queues at the breaks for students to approach speakers for individual attention.
Feedback from students and teachers has been very positive, so it will be essential to book early for the next Journey Towards Justice.
Speakers on the day in order of appearance were:
- The Hon John Hatzistergos BEc LLM MLC , Attorney General
- The Hon Greg James QC, President of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal
- Nicholas Cowdery AM QC, Director of Public Prosecutions
- Anthony Cook SC, Public Defender
- Sam Macedone LLB, Accredited Specialist Criminal Law
- David Firth, Acting Inspector, Duty Officer, Newtown LAC, NSW Police Force
- Ken Marslew AM, Founder and CEO Enough is Enough
- Steve Hudson
We acknowledge the support of all our speakers and thank them for taking time out of their extremely busy schedules to make a difference by talking to students who may one day be future legal practitioners and/ or law makers. We also acknowledge the support of Kelloggs, who provided the morning tea for our many hungry students.
Journey Towards Justice 12.03.08 - Report
Parliament House 12 March 2008
Report by Lynne Gordon, EIE Marketing Co-ordinator
200 students and their teachers were crammed in to the prestigious theatrette at Parliament house, sitting on the floor, down the aisles and up the stairs, eager to hear the pearls of wisdom that will motivate them to a life of working in Law.
The speakers were awe inspiring! Beginning with the Attorney General and Minister for Justice John Hatzistergos MLC, we were given an understanding of his role, and all of the areas where he is involved in the Legal process. What a busy man!
Next came Public Defender Mark Ierace SC, who enlightened all with his fascinating personal stories on legal defence, forensics and the Japanese Legal system. He also practised as an international criminal lawyer and was a Senior Trial Attorney in the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague, in the Netherlands. In that capacity, he led the prosecution team against the Bosnian Serb General (General Galic) who from 1992 perpetrated the Siege of Sarajevo (the state capital of Bosnia) for two years. Over those two years, General Galic, who commanded approximately 18,000 soldiers, gave orders to his sniper, mortar, artillery and tank units to deliberately target civilians, leading to the deaths of over a thousand civilians, and the serious injury of at least 10,000. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
We then had an interesting presentation from the Director of the Department of Public Prosecutions for NSW Nicholas Cowdery AM QC BA LLB. He gave students a clear understanding of the role of the Department, stressing the importance of the process of the legal system not something that can be swayed by comments in the media.
The Honourable Greg James QC was formerly a Judge of the New South Wales Supreme Court and Royal Commissioner. He provided remarkable insight into the difficulty that Judges face in terms of applying appropriate sentencing once a person has been charged with a crime. He is also President of the New South Wales Mental Health Review Tribunal where he is charged with enquiring into the care, detention and treatment of all persons suffering mental disorder who must be detained or treated involuntarily, heading a Tribunal of approximately 100 professional members conducting about 10,500 hearings per year. His compassion when sharing examples of cases of those with mental illness shone through.
Sam Macedone LL.B is an accredited Specialist Criminal Lawyer with over 36 years experience. His talk on the fallibilities of the Legal system, especially when people are charged and sentenced to prison when they are innocent, was particularly thought invoking. His discussion on the increasing reliability on Forensic evidence, and the changes in the methods of police interrogation was very interesting. His passion for the protection of innocent people, and seeing justice done was inspiring.
Duty Officer David Firth from Newtown LAC gave the audience a Police perspective. His talk on the increase in domestic violence and crime together with the frequency of repeat occurrences was particularly worrying. He reinforced the importance of organisations like Enough is Enough and they work they do to help victims of crime.
Enough is Enough Founder & CEO Ken Marslew then spoke from the perspective of a victim of crime. He formed the organisation following the murder of his son Michael. He shared with the students the importance of restorative justice, where the offenders are confronted by their victims and forced to take ownership of their actions, and how much this assists them in the rehabilitation process. He also challenged the students to make a difference in their lifetime, to fight for justice and social responsibility.
Our final speaker for the day was Steve Hudson, an ex offender who gave a personal account of his experience in prison. He painted a picture of how terrible the deprivation of freedom really is and how frightening prison life can be. He also praised the work of Enough is Enough, and the need for change in the prison system to enable offenders to experience a rehabilitation process whilst serving time, not an apprenticeship for a life of crime.
The day was extremely well received with comments from students such as informative, awesome speakers, definitely helpful for legal studies, great. We are very grateful to all the speakers who gave of their valuable time to share their wisdom and help and inspire the next generation of "Legal Eagles".