CLA’s policy on criminal justice
All Australians are entitled to protection from arbitrary arrest and unnecessary detention; to a fair, speedy and public trial; to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and to legal advice and representation.

Sentencing should be based on the principle of rehabilitation wherever possible.

AGs are cowards not to lift age of responsibility    

Australia’s Attorney-General showed cowardice in not lifting the age of criminal responsibillity from 10 10 at least 14, CLA President Dr Kristine Klugman says. A national justice department group has been working on the issue for years: it strongly recommended the common national age goes up, now. It’s time for one or mroe AGs to show the courage of their convictions, not the least because it will help keep Aboriginal kids as young as 10 from dominating juvenile jailings in Australia.

The law does not always mete justice 

The charade of show trials, held in secret for to create a greater fear effect purportedly to some ’security’ purpose, continue with the prosecutions of Witness K and Bernard Collaery. But it is the Australian government that should be on trial, as CLA’s CEO Bill Rowlings and Timor Leste advocate Sister Susan Connelly point out in these protest rally speeches.

Museums suffer as politicians drink waters of lethe

Bodies like museums, arts entities, orchestras and the ABC are preparing for another financial savaging in the upcoming budget. Every year, increasingly greater amounts are spent on bigger weapons and more over-the-top security. Each year, spending on the lifeblood of any civilised nation, culture and education, is constricted further to a barely survivable drip, Dr Des Griffin AM says.

High Court of Australia comes a cropper

The High Court of Australia has decided, to its legal satisfaction, that there was a sexual harasser in its midst, former judge Dyson Heydon. But the court was apparently reluctant to act (it took 15 months). And has it learned the real lesson of this sorry affair, that it is judicial hubris at the High Court in general that’s the problem, not just one randy old judge. The High Court should take a long, hard look at itself…and so should the rest of Australia examine the performance, competence and protocols of one of the three arms of national governance.

Let those locked up/down breathe fresh air

We lock people in quarantine so they won’t infect anyone else. But that doesn’t mean they should lose their right to breathe fresh air. A lockdown pair explain why it’s incongruous that upper floor windows can’t be opened occasionally, or supervised walks can’t be managed n a nearby park. Criminal prisoners get more fresh air than innocent travellers.