Let's get this thing going!

I speak to around 20 to 40 people every day on the phone, from all over Australia, who call after seeing my websites offering legal representation.  Some are in tears. Some are so anxious and upset that they can barely speak. Some are friends or relatives of those in trouble, who can't or won't call themselves because they're too embarrassed.

Most of those who call need a lawyer, and I help them with that. Some don't need a lawyer at all - they need a psychiatrist! And some just want to talk about a system they see as incredibly over-officious, over-regulated and over-bearing.

I don't think anyone with a brain who has ventured outside their home in the last 20 years will dispute that we in Australia have a lot of rules.  Mark Webber has called us "The Nanny State", and he was right.

 Dirty Harry once said " Briggs, I hate the goddamn system, but until someone comes along with changes that make sense, I'll stick with it."

Well Callahan, it's about time someone came up with some changes that make sense. Because it's getting out of control. Really.

I would estimate that, of the thousands of people I organise legal representation for every year, about 60% of the charges against them are utterly pointless. They do not keep people safe. They do not keep order in the community. They do not provide anyone - and I mean anyone - with a single benefit or positive outcome. What they do, in fact, is create family tensions, fear, severe stress, anger and a feeling of oppression. All of which, no doubt, lead in turn to many people committing more "crimes", and getting into even greater trouble with the law. A classic vicious circle...

You can see a brief description of some of the actual cases I deal with on my website www.courtdude.com.  As you will see, some of the charges, are, of course, serious and necessary for the orderly running of any civilised society. But as for the far-too-many that are not, during the course of the year I am going to give you more detailed real life examples, as they happen, of the absurdity of Australian law and how it is enforced by those august champions of justice - the Australian Police.

And maybe we can all come up with some changes that will satisfy Dirty Harry, Mark Webber, and me.