The study described in this article was based on the interviews of 225 prison property offenders in New South Wales gaols. It provides information on the relationship between the commission of crimes, such as armed robbery and burglary, and the regular use of heroin, as well as profiling the behaviour of one identifiable sample of users.

This article discusses some widely held misconceptions about the involvement of Chinese criminals in international heroin trafficking. The evidence considered in the article undermines those claims that large, interlinked syndicates control heroin distribution from the source to the street and also that the triads are heavily involved in the heroin trade. The implications of these data are briefly considered.

Section 43 of the Crime and Courts

This reflects the primary consideration in the exercise of the common law discretion that a witness with some understanding of English should not obtain an unfair advantage. A related concern has been to minimise the barriers to communication caused by the use of interpreters. Less attention has been given to the real risk that a witness with insufficient knowledge of English may not be able to adequately understand the questions put and convey the meanings he or she wishes to express. At present the onus is on the person wishing to use an interpreter to establish that he or she has a need for one. The conclusion reached in this report is that there should be a prima facie right to an interpreter, and, in certain circumstances, to have one provide provided free of charge. That right should only be displaced if it can be established that the person has an adequate command of English (1991 :36).

No abstract