Case In Point
The backstory to amazing court cases you need to know about. Lawyers and legal scholars give you the inside scoop on what makes these cases so extraordinary.
Episodes
When the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of a company called Hobby Lobby in 2014, it was hailed by conservatives as a win for the religious freedom of business owners.
Critics of the decision said it dealt a major blow to the rights of employees to access reproductive healthcare.
But there's more to this case than meets the eye.
Has the Hobby Lobby case rewritten the rules about what a corporation actually is?
Guest: Associate P...
Today’s case has been described as one of the most bizarre cases in recent Australian legal history, with a climax mirroring one of Agatha Christie’s most famous novels.
Guest: Dr Natalia Antolak-Saper, criminal law scholar, Monash University
Case: R v Darrington [2016] VSC 60
Further Reading: Man jailed for eight years for attempting to murder a corpse (The Age, 29 February 2026)
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What happens when an athlete is punished for doping, but the athlete has no idea how the drugs entered their system?
In 2019 the Australian swimming world was rocked by news that champion swimmer Shayna Jack had returned a positive test for a banned performance enhancing drug.
The ensuing legal battle, including the penalties awarded against Jack, has exposed the challenges athletes face under current global anti-doping rules.
Guests:
Our case today takes us to the Indian Ocean, to a remote and breathtaking group of islands at the centre of a high-stakes legal battle.
The Chagos Archipelago is the focus of a decades-long dispute between Mauritius and the United Kingdom — one that involves international courts, the shadow of the Cold War, and a powerful U.S. military base.
This legal battle continues to the present day, and at its heart is a devastating human sto...
It’s 1839, and Melbourne is a fledgling frontier, rife with tension between British invaders and First Australians.
The arrival of two Palawa men, Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheener, sparks a chain of events leading to a brutal execution witnessed by thousands in the heart of the city.
Were they criminals, or resistance fighters opposing colonial invasion? This is the untold story of rebellion, violence, and inju...
Can you own a dead body?
A strange story from 1868 holds the key to ownership of the human body and body parts.
This curious court case continues to impact us in the 21st century... and beyond.
Show Notes
Guest: Dr Marc Trabsky, Associate Professor of Law, La Trobe University
Case: Doodeward v Spence [1908] HCA 45; (1908) 6 CLR 406 (31 July 1908)
www.lifedeathandlaw.com
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Would you take a friend to court to settle a dispute? Awkward?
This is what Australia did with Japan, a key friend and ally, in 2014 over Japan's refusal to stop killing whales in the Southern Ocean.
Special guest Mark Dreyfus is Attorney-General of Australia.
Mark represented Australia in the culmination of a 40-year diplomatic stoush between Australia and Japan which went all the way to the Inte...
In 2017 a little-known Australian technologist develops a revolutionary form of facial recognition technology.
Clearview AI is being used by law enforcement agencies to hunt down criminals. But is there a catch?
A series of legal disputes around the world are among the most stark and alarming of our time.
Show Notes
Guest: Professor Jeannie Paterson, University of Melbourne (Co-Director, Centre for AI and...
It's 2003. An Australian man is captured by US forces in Afghanistan and imprisoned at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on terrorism charges.
The prisoner's defence lawyer is a United States Marine Corps lawyer named Dan Mori.
He's about to be thrust onto the world stage in a fight against his own country's military and political establishment.
(Update: The US governm...
Grave robbers, AI law enforcement, international diplomatic beefs!
Introducing Case In Point, the stories behind some of the most amazing court cases you need to know about.
Each episode a special guest picks a weird and wonderful court case with an epic backstory.
Hosted by Melissa Castan (Professor of Law at Monash University) and James Pattison (the guy who's not a Professor of Law at Monash Univ...
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