ABC News: COVID-19 is accelerating the rise of conspiracy and sovereign citizen movements in Australia

ABC News: COVID-19 is accelerating the rise of conspiracy and sovereign citizen movements in Australia: Dramatic increase in activity and interest Robert Sudy, a former "sovereign citizen" who has become a researcher into the movement, said it greatly affected some followers' … Continue reading →

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Sovereign Citizen OPCA Law Skool with Rob Sudy

The Conditional Release Program - Sovereign Citizen OPCA Law Skool with Rob Sudy I come in at about 46.40 minutes if you want to jump directly to the interview. You can also listen to the interview on its own here. … Continue reading →

Sovereign People & The Law, with David Heilpern

Sovereign People & The Law - David Heilpern 19.07.21: "In this episode we take a close look at the growing Sovereign Citizens Movement in Australia, particularly on the NSW North Coast. With greater Sydney going through yet another lockdown, COVID … Continue reading →

Introduction

“The average man is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, … Continue reading →

A Pathogen Astride the Minds of Men: The Epidemiological History of Pseudolaw

Donald J. Netolitzky; "A Pathogen Astride the Minds of Men: The Epidemiological History of Pseudolaw" (2018) "Pseudolaw is a collection of legal-sounding but false rules that purport to be law. Pseudolaw has independently emerged in different countries and communities on … Continue reading →

Broadening our Understanding of Anti-Authority Movements in Canada

The Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security, and Society; "Broadening our Understanding of Anti-Authority Movements in Canada" (2017) "Academic explorations of anti-authority movements are virtually non-existent in Canada. We have no reliable primary data or empirical insights into Freemen-on-the-Land … Continue reading →

A Schema of Right-Wing Extremism in the United States

Sam Jackson; "A Schema of Right-Wing Extremism in the United States" (ICCT Policy Brief 2019 ) "Over the past two years, and in the wake of deadly attacks in Charlottesville and Pittsburgh, attention paid to right-wing extremism in the United States … Continue reading →

Conspiracy Theories in the Patriot/Militia Movement

Sam Jackson; "Conspiracy Theories in the Patriot/Militia Movement" (2017) "This paper provides a primer on conspiracy theories in the patriot/militia movement. After introducing the movement, it describes the basic features of conspiracy theories. It then walks through several prominent and … Continue reading →

Without Prejudice: What Sovereign Citizens Believe

J.M. Berger; "Without Prejudice: What Sovereign Citizens Believe" (2016) "When surveyed, United States law enforcement consistently ranks sovereign citizens as the top domestic extremist threat, even greater than that presented by homegrown jihadists. Despite the considerable size of the movement, … Continue reading →

Uncommon law: understanding and quantifying the sovereign citizen movement

Michelle M. Mallek; "Uncommon law: understanding and quantifying the sovereign citizen movement" (2016) "This thesis examines possible reasons why some organizations overuse the term sovereign citizen. To do so, the thesis discusses various behaviors that sovereign citizens typically undertake, describes … Continue reading →

The sovereign citizen movement: the shifting ideological winds

Devon M. Bell; "The sovereign citizen movement: the shifting ideological winds" (2016) "The FBI has identified the Sovereign Citizen Movement (SCM) as a significant threat to the domestic security of the United States. The movement’s adherents are capable of significant … Continue reading →

A Rebellion of Furious Paper: Pseudolaw as a Revolutionary Legal System

Donald J. Netolitzky; "A Rebellion of Furious Paper: Pseudolaw as a Revolutionary Legal System" (2018) "Pseudolaw is a collection of legal-sounding but false rules that purport to be law. Though pseudolaw is now encountered by courts and government actors in … Continue reading →

A Revolting Itch: Pseudolaw as a Social Adjuvant

Donald J. Netolitzky; "A Revolting Itch: Pseudolaw as a Social Adjuvant" "Pseudolaw is a collection of legal-sounding but false rules that purport to be superior laws suppressed by conspiratorial actors. Pseudolaw replaces conventional law. Modern pseudolaw emerged around 2000 in … Continue reading →

Sovereign Citizens: A Psychological and Criminological Analysis

Christine M. Sarteschi; "Sovereign Citizens: A Psychological and Criminological Analysis" "This brief serves to educate readers about the sovereign citizen movement, presenting relevant case studies and offering suggestions for measures to address problems caused by this movement. Sovereign citizens are … Continue reading →

Buck v. Attorney General [1965] Ch 745

In Buck v. Attorney General [1965] Ch 246, the claimant challenged the validity of an order in council giving effect to the Sierra Leone Independence Act 1961. The order used general enabling words, not expressly stating which power had been … Continue reading →

The UK High Court application by the Great Australia Party

This is an application before the High Court in the United Kingdom by Rodney Culleton and Ors. The stated Orders sought by the applicants are: (a) To declare the status of the validity of the Australia Act 1986 (UK) and … Continue reading →

The Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865

The Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 63) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its long title is "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of Colonial Laws". The purpose … Continue reading →

The Sovereign Citizen Movement: A Comparative Analysis with Similar Foreign Movements and Takeaways for the United States Judicial System

Mellie Ligon; "The Sovereign Citizen Movement: A Comparative Analysis with Similar Foreign Movements and Takeaways for the United States Judicial System" 35 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 297 (2021). "The Moorish Sovereign Citizens Movement began as an offshoot of the overarching … Continue reading →

The Grim Parade: Supreme Court of Canada Self Represented Appellants in 2017

Donald J. Netolitzky; "The Grim Parade: Supreme Court of Canada Self Represented Appellants in 2017" "Self-Represented Litigants are persons who appear in legal proceedings without a lawyer. This study is a document- and court record-based quantitative, statistically valid profile of … Continue reading →

Steepe v The Commonwealth of Australia [2021] NSWSC 368

Sheep farmer bills RAAF $15m for trespass A sheep farmer has failed to convince a court the RAAF owes her $15.3 million for flying fighter jets over her property. NSW woman Julie Steepe issued a series of invoices in 2020 … Continue reading →

McFarlane v McFarlane [2021] VSC 197

In McFarlane v McFarlane [2021] VSC 197, the applicants mother had signed a transfer of land, gifting her home to her son, the applicant. She moved from the house to an aged care home shortly after, and the Victorian Civil … Continue reading →

Phoebe Lee Bennett

Magistrate slams teen’s ‘sovereign citizen’ defence "A Dunsborough teenager caught speeding on Bussell Highway has been lambasted by a magistrate for “wasting the court’s time” after claiming she did not consent to the charges as a sovereign citizen. Phoebe Lee … Continue reading →

State of New South Wales v Hardy [2021] NSWSC 323

Man who threatened MP to be supervised "A man whose crimes included threatening a NSW MP by writing " you will be hung until you are dead" is to be subject of a second terrorist-related interim supervision order. Two envelopes … Continue reading →

Australasian Federation Conferences 1890-98

The records of the Australasian Federation Conference of 1890 and the Australasian Federal Conventions of 1891 and 1897/8 are among the most significant founding documents of the Australian nation. At the Australasian Federation Conference held in Melbourne from 6 to … Continue reading →

Section 100 – Water rights

Section 100 of the Commonwealth Constitution provides: "Nor -abridge right to use waterThe Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of trade or commerce, abridge the right of a State or of the residents therein to the reasonable use … Continue reading →

Response to Wayne Glew’s Videos

Wayne Glew recently published several videos regarding a Facebook group I regularly post in called "Are Council Rates Legal ?" administrated by Tim Prater. Although they are quite the convoluted collection of assertions and claims, I would like to do … Continue reading →

Montgomery v Child Support Registrar [2015] FCA 891

The applicant was $46,596.87 in arrears for child support, and was prevented in leaving Australia due to a Departure Prohibition Order, and subsequently filed for an appeal of this decision in Montgomery v Child Support Registrar [2015] FCA 891. The … Continue reading →

The Crown as Corporation (1901)

Frederic Maitland; "The Crown as Corporation" (1901) In Re Stepney Election Petition; Isaacson v Durant (1886) 17 QBD 54, it was held that allegiance was owed not to the monarch in his or her personal capacity, but rather to the Crown … Continue reading →

Responsible Government and the Divisibility of the Crown

Anne Twomey; "Responsible Government and the Divisibility of the Crown" This article addresses the misconceptions and misunderstandings that surround the meaning of references to "the Crown". It focuses on the divisibility of the Crown and the criteria for the creation … Continue reading →

Penhallow v Doane’s Administrators and Cruden v Neale (US cases)

(1) Penhallow v. Doane's Administrators Penhallow v. Doane's Administrators, 3 U.S. 54, 3 Dall. 54, 1 L. Ed. 507 (1795) is often cited by OPCA adherents both in the United States and elsewhere in an attempt to substantiate the "strawman" … Continue reading →

Ms Nicole Maree Arnold v Goodstart Early Learning Limited T/A Goodstart Early Learning [2020] FWC 6083

The Applicant was employed with responsibility for the care of children, and objected to being vaccinated on grounds which did not include a medical reason or health related issue. She was dismissed on the basis that she had refused to … Continue reading →

Understanding and debunking the pseudo-legal ‘sovereign citizen’ movement

Geraldine Johns-Putra; Understanding and debunking the pseudo-legal 'sovereign citizen' movement: . Geraldine Johns-Putra contacted me by email with very complimentary words: Dear Robert I am an Australian lawyer, first admitted in Victoria about 23 years ago. I am working more … Continue reading →

De facto Officers

OPCA adherents often raise the proposition that if a judicial oath of office is somehow defective, it disqualifies the judge from the position, and his orders are coram non judice, or void. Under the De facto Officers Doctrine, the acts … Continue reading →

The Evolution of a Separate Australian Crown

George Winterton; "The Evolution of a Separate Australian Crown" "Apart from a brief debate regarding an elective Governor-General (obviously resolved in the negative),' the constitutional framers gave virtually no consideration to the formal executive,' simply taking it for granted that … Continue reading →

The Legal Personality of the Commonwealth of Australia

Sebastian Howard Hartford Davis; "The Legal Personality of the Commonwealth of Australia" "The article analyses legal materials concerning the legal personality of the Commonwealth of Australia under domestic law. It argues that the Commonwealth as legal person has an existence, … Continue reading →

The Poor Can Feed The Birds on Sovereign Citizens

The Poor Can Feed The Birds podcast "The Poor Can Feed The Birds is hosted by Tom Tanuki, and covers participatory politics and activism around Australia. It covers rallies and actions upcoming and past, and takes part in the growing … Continue reading →

O’Hagan v Commissioner of Taxation [2020] QDC 288

In O’Hagan v Commissioner of Taxation [2020] QDC 288 the applicant was found guilty after a summary trial of four offences of failing when and as required pursuant to a taxation law to give a return to the Commissioner of … Continue reading →

Hoxton Park Residents’ Action Group Inc. v Liverpool City Council [2010] NSWSC 1312

Hoxton Park Residents' Action Group Inc. v Liverpool City Council [2010] NSWSC 1312 concerned a development approval given by the Liverpool City Council (the first defendant), to the Malek Fahd Islamic School Ltd, (the second defendant). The third defendant was … Continue reading →

Hockey and Anor and Owners Of Mount Bakewell Resort Strata Plan 18228 [2013] WASAT 64

In Hockey and Anor and Owners Of Mount Bakewell Resort Strata Plan 18228 [2013] WASAT 64 the applicants applied for an order appointing an administrator to a strata scheme which contains 13 lots. The owners of Lot 1, (which was used … Continue reading →