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.
Australia has more anti-terror laws than comparable western countries; such laws undermine our democratic freedoms, academics agree. At some stage anti-terror laws in Australia could become part of the problem, and not the solution, Professor George Wi…
The ACT Government can learn from five years of disastrous practical experience in the UK of a security vetting system brought in to check up on community volunteers working with children. The UK system, on which the proposed ACT regime is based, is now…
CHOGM in Perth in October 2011 will create a new ‘Commission for Good’ to concentrate on human rights, governance, the rule of law and democracy across the 54 Commonwealth nations around the globe. The move is recommended by an eminent persons group whi…
The government is actively preventing debate on a secret data store that will hold email and internet activities of every Australian. It refuses to release information because it "could cause…premature and unnecessary debate", according…
The US Court of Appeals has struck a blow for citizen’s freedom to use videos or photos to capture what police are doing in public. The ruling, under the US Constitution First Amendment right, is not binding on Australia…but it gives a firm indicat…
The communications authority, ACMA, is seeking CLA comment on whether its draft revised Privacy Guidelines for Broadcasters are appropriate. To have your say, read the ACMA letter and the Draft Guidelines, and send comments and thoughts to the Secretary…
There must be something drastically wrong with seizure and property forfeiture laws in Australia, as CLA and others have been saying for years, when even a normally non-controversial State Governor, the former eminent WA barrister Malcolm McCusker, is u…
Why should innocent drivers have photos of their vehicles kept for 30 days, CLA asks, as the ACT Government is about to introduce a new speed detection system? Keep the photos of those exceeding the speed limit, by all means, but why should innocent peo…
Is COAG, the Council Of Australian Governments, a legitimate cog in the wheel of the nation’s federated system, or just an ultra-Constitutional marionette of the Kitchen Cabinet, playing States and Territories on strings? Two legal academics, Paul Kilde…
It’s fine for the community to give general guidance to judges as to what is “reasonable” in sentencing, CLA says: public discussion on such issues would be useful, and may help judges locally and nationally, CLA told the main ACT political parties. But…