See-through scanners need scrutinySome airports overseas are rushing into service full body-revealing scanners. Australia trialled them in 2008 in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide: after a full report, the government had no plans to introduce them…until pressure in early 2010 from the US…
Google’s purported withdrawal from the China market, due to hacking and censorship, has produced comments useful for opponents of internet censorship, described as ‘filtering’ by Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
According to The Gu…
Can human rights eventually permeate South-East Asia? The Asian Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) is a brave start, but it needs Singapore to abandon its entrenched opposition and to take a lead on regional rights for people, Murdoch…
In a surprise decision, the EU Court of Human Rights has overturned a House of Lords judgement and told Britain that its police stop-and-search powers are invalid. The government must now reframe the laws to abide by human rights.Controversial stop-a…
CLA is campaigning against the draconian provisions of draft legislation on ‘Serious and Organised Crime’, which is now (Feb 2010) being considered by federal parliament. Here is proof, from WA, of how the state can abuse similar legislation, and inflict…
What if the world’s new superpowers – search engines and social websites – decided Australia was no longer worthy of service, and cut us off from the planet? Google is dangling that threat over China. Will Communications Minister Stephen Conroy’s interne…
Scientists question DNA accuracyA trans-Atlantic group of 41 scientists want access to the 7m DNA records on the US national database to test whether DNA matching statistics are accurate, or overstated. There are indications that probability numbers need re-thinking, the scientists say…
Prison spending and the prison population both are going through the roof, in the USA, UK and Australia. In California, America’s almost bankrupt state, Governor Arnie Schwarzenegger is biting the bullet and slashing spending on prisons to allocate more…
A US Court of Appeals has effectively placed a tight limit on the USA’s 17,000 law enforcement agencies in how they fire off stun guns in non-threatening situations, in a case which could have ramifications in Australia. If stopped for not wearing a seat…
As Australia considers its own rights instrument, the question arises: should we encourage a Charter of Rights for Pacific Island nations? In a CLA-ANU internship paper which received high marks, Kelly Haines-Sutherland analyses whether such a document w…