Is forensic science accurate? Not always, say a group of US scientists who want more rigorous research to prove the veracity of fingerprint, bite mark and screwdriver point comparisons – among other techniques – that produce ‘evidence’ used to send peopl…
Even people accustomed to prosecuting under draconian laws think the special legislation against bikies is over the top. Keith McEwan argues that what is beign done to bikies sounds a big warning bell to people who value traditional civil liberties in Au…
Why did it take six days and citizen journalism to shed light on the death during a G20 protest in London of paper-seller Ian Tomlinson? Nick Davies of The Guardian examines the role of thepolice and the UK’s Independent Police Complaints Commission and…
SCAG, the Attorneys-General dinner and discussion get-together held a couple of times a year, is in danger of disintegrating into farce. This week, the august A-Gs from the rest of Australia should have been counselling SA and NSW to throw out their new,…
States must take cognisance of international treaties ratified by Australia, and no law does the nation a service when it tramples on centuries-old conventions against self-incrimination. CLA’s analysis for the NSW Parliament’s ICAC committee cautions ag…
What should be the relationship between police and citizens? How should police behave at mass protests? Barrister and former UK Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald asks some pertinent questions, after a death at the G20 protests in London, in t…
SCAG – the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General – is allowing bikies to hijack its work program, CLA believes. SCAG is debating semi-fascist bike club laws from SA and NSW instead of dealing with a priority item on its work program, the massive over-r…
Spending $6m on pretending CCTV in WA will prevent crime, or even cost-effectively catch criminals after crime, is nothing more than PR spin, CLA CEO Bill Rowlings says. Even in the UK, with the world’s biggest CCTV systems, the technology is a massive f…
Society is sliding downhill, with growing disengagement between people and police. Officers are as much victims of this process as people, James Fairbairn writes. There’s a need to re-engage the democractic gears of governance to ensure checks and balanc…
Police powers continue expanding: soon ordinary constables in NSW will be able to search your home secretly while you’re out. Oh, and they’ll be able to search your neighour’s house, too. Lawyer Mark Polden explains how it’s the new way police do busines…