Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib has written a book entitled My Story: The Tale of a Terrorist Who Wasn’t (Scribe Publications $32.95).
The book, reviewed in the Weekend Australian 25/26 Oct 08 by Natalie O`Brien, tells of Habib`s ordeal. After being…
Do the rights of Indigenous people to traditional ceremonies on traditional lands comprise ‘property’? Two CLA members asked to appear as ‘friends of the court’ on the question as part of a High Court case involving the NT ‘intervention’ of 2007, but per…
It comes as no surprise that Civil Liberties Australia has given the Government an “inconsistent” assessment on its human rights performance (“Rudd Labor ‘inconsistent’ on human rights: report”, Canberra Times, October 4, p8).
Last week, in its respon…
The debate about whether Australia should have a national Charter of Rights and Responsibilities will launch on 10 December, international Human Rights Day. It is hoped that the Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, will throw his weight behind the program to indicat…
Stereotyping clouds thinking over relationship violence, says CLA member Roger Anthony Smith. The Australian Government has no place funding and promoting biased campaigns that support one sex while stigmatising the other – that’s against basic human ri…
The first years of the 21st Century have been bleak for civil liberties in Australia, says barrister and former Victorian Attorney-General, Jim Kennan SC. Our democracy is devalued, and we are the poorer nation for it: we must return to the rule of law,…
Cartoon by Nicholson
Bidding to heighten the fear of terrorism to boost his agency’s status, ASIO’s Director-General has used Weapons of Mass Destruction…just as his boss, the Attorney-General, is downplaying terrorism and signalling a radical chang…
Considerable CLA effort, along with that of experienced and astute lawyers, has produced much-improved sexual and violent offences legislation in the ACT. The CLA-inspired changes better define violence, allow the media to cover cases, and make videoing…
Proposed new Sexual and Violent Offences law will not work, and will cause a procedural breakdown in the courts, says experienced barrister Ken Archer. Two other barristers are also highly critical, while Canberra Times Editor-at-Large Jack Waterford say…
Proposed new Sexual and Violent Offences law will not work, will cause a procedural breakdown in the courts, and will embarass the ACT Government, says experienced barrister Ken Archer. He contends the proposed legislation is rushed, biased and plain bad…