Traditionally the offence of assault was referred to as two offences being the offence of assault and a separate offence of battery. “Assault” referred to the threat of force on another person whereas “battery” referred to the actual use of force on another.
Both assault and battery are now known as only the offence of “assault” or “unlawful assault”. In Victoria there are a number of versions of the offence including section 23 of the Summary Offences Act 1966, section 31(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1958, and Common Law Assault.
How a person is charged will depend on how serious the police view the assault.
The prosecutor has to prove that you intended to or recklessly applied force to another person or caused someone to apprehend immediate application of force to their body without lawful justification or excuse.
Section 31(a) of the Crimes Act 1958 requires the prosector to additionally prove that the assault occurred with the intent to commit an indictable offence.
Defences:
Penalties:
Case: Early Morning Trespass and Threats Leads to Affray Charges. Our client and his house mate were charged with affray and assault after two drunken and unidentified men attended their
Case: Charged with Assault & Cause Injury With Identity In Issue. Our client was charged with intentionally cause injury in circumstances where the complainant did not identify our client and
Case: Passive Person Charged with Assault. After a night out with his mate, our client found himself in a strange situation. An altercation occurred between our client’s friend and his
