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.
Round-robins of ‘tough on crime’ legislation go from state to state, nation to nation. Here, noted Manchester QC Mark George analyses the cumulative effect of years of repressive laws in the UK, which have whittled away the traditional protections of the…
Michael Atkinson, the South Australian Attorney General noted for quaint ways, is at it again: a new law means you must attach your name/details to any letter or blog comment once the March 2010 SA election is formally called, which is expected imminentl…
CCTV is ‘legally blind’ – academicAn Australian computer scientist has declared CCTV camera systems meet the definition of being ‘legally blind’ when it comes to precise identification of criminals. Billions of dollars have been spent worldwide on systems that should come with a sign sho…
Prisons in Victoria, 2010How well are Australia’s prisons serving the community? One major Royal Commission recommendation was that the community constantly keep watch on what is happening in prisons. Here, CLA’s Keith McEwan does just that, for the Victorian prison system.…
Is the way Australia decides to go to war appropriate for a democratic nation? What about formal reporting to the people on war progress, and parliament controlling the purse strings? These major questions will get more prominence in the lead-up to the e…
Filtering – or censoring – Australia’s internet: what’s the full story? Here electronics engineer Arved Von Brasch explains the background to filtering, censorship, blacklists, classifications, etc… and recommends a better way forward.Internet Filte…
Filtering – or censoring – Australia’s internet: what’s the full story? Here electronics engineer Arved Von Brasch explains the background to filtering, censorship, blacklists, classifications, etc… and recommends a better way forward. Internet Fi…
Being proud of Australia is a good thing on Australia Day, but embedded in nationalism always lurks the danger of an exclusionary attitude to people who are not exactly like us, says James Dunn. The best nationalist is an internationalist, who knows that…
Clinton urges global internet freedomUS Secretary of State Hillary Clinton linked the five freedoms of the US Constitution’s First Amendment to the need for unfettered global internet access. “The freedom to connect is like the freedom of assembly, only in cyberspace,” she said, directly co…
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…