Репост из: Läkaruppropet
🇦🇺🇳🇿🇬🇧🇺🇸🇨🇦🇮🇪🇿🇦 The journalist Monica Smit won. The County Court of the State of Victoria in Australia ordered the State to pay damages to the plaintiff for her unlawful arrest. 😊 The police arrested her because she was protesting against the lockdown imposed in Melbourne to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
The police and the government offered Ms Smit more money not to go to court than the $4,000 (Australian) she now receives as a result of the judgement. However, Ms Smit is not interested in money, what matters to her is that she won the case and that the State of Victoria acted illegally. However, there is a risk that she will have to pay legal costs for the other party of around $300,000!
From the judgement:
"IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA
AT MELBOURNE
COMMON LAW DIVISION
Revised
Not restricted
Suitable for publication
GENERAL LIST
Case No CI-21-01328
MONICA SMIT Plaintiff
v
STATE OF VICTORIA Defendant
---
JUDGE: HONOURABLE JUDGE TRAN
VENUE OF THE COURT: Melbourne
DATES OF THE HEARINGS: 23, 24, 25, 26 and 29 July and 1, 5, 6, 7, 13, 13, 16 and 19 August 2024
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 12 September 2024
The case may be cited as: Smit v. State of Victoria
NEUTRAL CITATION MEDIUM: [2024] VCC 1411
REASONS FOR JUDGEMENT
Keywords: False imprisonment - application of s. 458 of the Crimes Act 1958 - whether reasonable belief - whether necessary - whether continuation
Legislation cited: Crimes Act 1958, s 458; Evidence Act 2008, s 38;
Cases cited: Coco v R [1994] HCA 15; Christie v Leachinsky [1947] A.C. 573; Trobridge v Hardy (1955) 94 CLR 147; North Australian Aboriginal Justice
Justice Agency Ltd v Northern Territory (2015) 256 CLR 569; Donaldson v Broomby (1982) 40 ALR 525; De Moor v Davies [1999] VSC 416; George v Rockett (1990) 170 CLR 104; Ruddock v Taylor (2005) 222 CLR 612; Hyder v Commonwealth (2012) 217 A Crim R 571; DPP v Farmer [2010] VSC 343; Loughnan v Magistrates' Court of
Victoria Sitting at Melbourne & Anor [1993] 1 VR 685 at 692; O'Hara v Chief Constable of Royal Ulster Constabulary [1997] AC 286; Carrie Peters (a pseudonym) v State of Victoria [2023] VCC 1791; State of New South Wales v Smith (2017) 95 NSWLR 662; Slaveski v State of
Victoria [2010] VSC 441; Hogan v Australian Crime Commission (2010) 240 CLR 651; Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v BlueScope Steel Limited [2019] FCA 1532; DPP v Carr [2002] NSWSC 194; R v Officer A (No 2) [[2022] NSWSC 1381; Plenty v Dillon (1991) 171 CLR 635
Judgment in the case: damages awarded."
The link leads to a clip where Monica Smit talks about the judgement. According to the judge, two of the three arrests of Ms Smit for protesting against Melbourne's restrictions were against the law. The text of the video contains a link to the judgement.
https://youtu.be/vhhCI9obnlQ?si=OI990fEUTJF-YG3z
The police and the government offered Ms Smit more money not to go to court than the $4,000 (Australian) she now receives as a result of the judgement. However, Ms Smit is not interested in money, what matters to her is that she won the case and that the State of Victoria acted illegally. However, there is a risk that she will have to pay legal costs for the other party of around $300,000!
From the judgement:
"IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA
AT MELBOURNE
COMMON LAW DIVISION
Revised
Not restricted
Suitable for publication
GENERAL LIST
Case No CI-21-01328
MONICA SMIT Plaintiff
v
STATE OF VICTORIA Defendant
---
JUDGE: HONOURABLE JUDGE TRAN
VENUE OF THE COURT: Melbourne
DATES OF THE HEARINGS: 23, 24, 25, 26 and 29 July and 1, 5, 6, 7, 13, 13, 16 and 19 August 2024
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 12 September 2024
The case may be cited as: Smit v. State of Victoria
NEUTRAL CITATION MEDIUM: [2024] VCC 1411
REASONS FOR JUDGEMENT
Keywords: False imprisonment - application of s. 458 of the Crimes Act 1958 - whether reasonable belief - whether necessary - whether continuation
Legislation cited: Crimes Act 1958, s 458; Evidence Act 2008, s 38;
Cases cited: Coco v R [1994] HCA 15; Christie v Leachinsky [1947] A.C. 573; Trobridge v Hardy (1955) 94 CLR 147; North Australian Aboriginal Justice
Justice Agency Ltd v Northern Territory (2015) 256 CLR 569; Donaldson v Broomby (1982) 40 ALR 525; De Moor v Davies [1999] VSC 416; George v Rockett (1990) 170 CLR 104; Ruddock v Taylor (2005) 222 CLR 612; Hyder v Commonwealth (2012) 217 A Crim R 571; DPP v Farmer [2010] VSC 343; Loughnan v Magistrates' Court of
Victoria Sitting at Melbourne & Anor [1993] 1 VR 685 at 692; O'Hara v Chief Constable of Royal Ulster Constabulary [1997] AC 286; Carrie Peters (a pseudonym) v State of Victoria [2023] VCC 1791; State of New South Wales v Smith (2017) 95 NSWLR 662; Slaveski v State of
Victoria [2010] VSC 441; Hogan v Australian Crime Commission (2010) 240 CLR 651; Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v BlueScope Steel Limited [2019] FCA 1532; DPP v Carr [2002] NSWSC 194; R v Officer A (No 2) [[2022] NSWSC 1381; Plenty v Dillon (1991) 171 CLR 635
Judgment in the case: damages awarded."
The link leads to a clip where Monica Smit talks about the judgement. According to the judge, two of the three arrests of Ms Smit for protesting against Melbourne's restrictions were against the law. The text of the video contains a link to the judgement.
https://youtu.be/vhhCI9obnlQ?si=OI990fEUTJF-YG3z