Once again, this time in Sydney, a self-selected group of Attorneys-General from the West is meeting to decide – without reference to the Australian parliament – the shape of Australia's future laws. It's time MPs stood up to be counted against such emasculation of their roles and responsibilities, CLA says.

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Quintet meets to hand down cabal’s legal writ

The five men – the Quintet – running the rich western world’s legal system meet in Sydney this month.

They are:

• Eric Holder, Attorney-General, United States of America;
• Dominic Grieve, Attorney-General, United Kingdom;
• Rob Nicholson, Attorney-General & Minister for Justice, Canada;
• Chris Finlayson, Attorney-General, New Zealand; and
• Robert McClelland, Attorney-General, Australia.

They call themselves the ‘Quintet’, always with a capital ‘Q’.

At the Sydney meeting, they are discussing cyber threats, including the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime; working with industry to combat cyber threats; and making domestic laws match technological change (and, unspoken, match up in the five countries).

As well, each quintuplet leads on a topic area at their meetings. In Sydney:

• Countering Violent Extremism (Australia);
• Intelligence and Evidence in Legal Proceedings (Canada);
• Disclosure of Digitally Stored Material (United Kingdom);
• Extradition (New Zealand); and
• Sentencing (United States).

The five AGamigos always discuss how to “focus on joint and cooperative actions that can be taken…”.

It is now an annual event, but with just two year’s tradition behind it, the 2011 meeting is the first time the Quintet has met in Australia.  

“The Quintet represents a unique opportunity for the Australian Government to work with our key allies to address challenges and progress matters of mutual interest from the perspective of a shared legal tradition and common values,” Australia’s AG McClelland said.

That’s one way of putting it.

There’s at least one other way of putting it: the Quintet is an undemocratic gathering of five countries where the attorneys-general have self-selected themselves into an out-of-control cabal with a mission to merge the laws of five sovereign nations.

No country’s parliament has approved even the existence of the ‘Quintet’, so far as CLA knows. Australia’s Parliament certainly has not.

There is no mechanism for reporting to the Australian Parliament. The Australian Parliament does not get consulted in advance about what will be discussed, or what Australia’s position at the meeting will be on significant issues. Nor is the parliament informed officially after the event.

Like other neo-quasi-official bodies which run Australia (SCAG, COAG, etc), the Quintet has no foundation in a parliamentary discussion, debate or vote.

It’s fascinating that the Australian Labor Attorney-General – who is bound to seek permission from his Labor Caucus before agreeing to any major cross-jurisdiction initiative – does not consult Caucus in advance, brief Caucus afterwards, or seek any approval whatsoever…so far as CLA is aware.

CLA keeps asking, across many issues, when will Australia’s backbench parliamentarians of all parties start to stand up individually against the way the executive and ministers (of both major parties) are riding roughshod over the traditional role of the national parliament as the body which runs the country?

This is what CLA wrote in November 2009, when the Quintet was born…

‘Quintet’ moves Australia’s criminal, terrorism law decisions offshore

A new international power group is taking decisions out of the hands of Australian electors...and allowing four other countries to shape our laws.

The Attorneys-General of Australia, Canada (Rob Nicholson, pictured), NZ and the USA met with the AG of England and  Wales and of Northern Ireland (this is one person) as a “Quintet” for the first time early last month (2009) in the State Drawing Room, Lancaster House, London.

The A-Gs’ Quintet– their word for themselves, not ours – decided to merge “legal frameworks at the international level”, and “to coordinate action across agencies against organised crime, cybercrime, terrorism and...perpetrators of genocide”.

They also decided (without reference to their national parliaments) to:

• protect freedom of expression and address crime and terrorism;
• reduce violence directed against young children, and youth crime; and
• promote and support pro bono legal activity domestically and internationally.

The Quintessentials (apologies to the satanic horror punk rock group of the same name) decided that they would ”work jointly, inter alia, on cybercrime; a framework on organized crime; terrorism; genocide; and innovative approaches to prevention of youth violence; and would meet annually”.

As CoAG* and SCAG** are emasculating power from parliaments within Australia, so the Quintessentials will move crime and anti-terror decisions offshore, using the Australian Parliament as a mere rubber stamp.

*CoAG: Council of Australian Governments;

** SCAG: Standing Committee of Attorneys-General , comprising all A-Gs from Australia and NZ. There are 41 other, similar ‘Ministerial Councils’ which, together, decide what type of nation Australia is and will be. Parliaments no longer run the country.