You've probably seen sovereign citizen videos on social media. People reciting weird incantations to get out of traffic stops and court appearances, spouting words that sound like legalese but are actually nonsense.
This stuff is darkly funny. But it's having real consequences for our legal system and for social cohesion.
In Western Australia in 2022 a suburban Magistrate asked a simple question of a defendant: Are you this person?
The interaction kicked off a legal drama that ended up in the Supreme Court. The decision could provide a solution to the growing problem of sovereign citizens and pseudolaw adherents.
Case:
KELLY v FIANDER [2023] WASC 187
Guest:
Joe McIntyre, Associate Professor of Law, Adelaide University
Hosts:
Melissa Castan, Professor of Law, Monash University
James Pattison
Further Reading:
The Strawman Trap: Non-Appearance and the Pitfalls of Pseudolaw, Joe Mcintyre, Harry Hobbs, Stephen Young (2025) 99 ALJ 319
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