I just hope the crime was underage drinking. Drinking age is 18 in Australia FYI.
In that case the court would be arguing that she could not have drunken on February 28th, and the lawyer would be arguing that she could have.
Juvenile or adult? Leap-year suspect poses conundrum for court
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Re: Juvenile or adult? Leap-year suspect poses conundrum for court
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
IANAL, but given this case is in an ACT court the ACT’s Legislation Act 2001 [0] (perhaps better named than ‘Acts Interpretation Act 1901’) is probably the more relevant piece of legislation in this case, and defines a ‘month’ like this: "month" means a period beginning at the start of any day of one of the calendar months and ending— (a) immediately before the start of the corresponding day of the next calendar mont…
I see no mention of timezones. I can see complications arising from that, given Australia spans a few timezones. Time is complicated when it comes to implementing strict rules. There will always be situations that can be interpreted in more than one way. This is why laws need not only the letter (what) but also the spirit (the why). When the letter of the law proves ambiguous, the spirit can be used to come up with a…
What I’ve quoted is just the definition of a ‘month’ in legislation in the ACT. Time zones are dealt with in other parts of the Act and other legislation.
But yes, time is complicated, especially when multiple jurisdictions are involved.