Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has moved rapidly to demand that the Classification Review Board bans a book on euthanasia, the Peaceful Pill Handbook, even though the board OK’d the book just a month earlier, in December 2006. “This executive government…
Read this rundown by Sydney Morning Herald columnist Richard Ackland on what concerns civil libertarians.
If you can’t get through to the SMH site, you can read it here.
Saddam Hussein "was given a proper trial," asserts PM Howard. David Hicks remains incarcerated without charges.
Hussein, after three years, "has been brought to justice, following a process of fair trial and appeal," proclaims F…
The Australian Government and the Australian Federal Police have been running hard on the ‘Moti Affair’. What drives them to mount a second case against the lawyer? Is it what barrister and CLA member John Purnell SC asks in a penetrating rundown of the…
Australians should have same rights as Canadian, UK, German and NZ citizens. Unlike their British, Canadian or German counterparts, Australian judges have little if any power to subject the unprecedented anti-terrorism laws to judicial scrutiny. And in t…
CLA says no Australians – including AFP officers – should be obliged to give up their DNA against their will. DNA testing should be voluntary, not compulsory, and it should not be used to screen applicants for jobs.
Media Release Wed 27 Sept 06
DNA t…
This thoughtful, scholarly analysis of civil liberties in Australia after 11 September 2001 was presented to a University of the Third Age (U3A) forum in August 2006 by Allan Hall, founding partner of Canberra legal firm Snedden, Hall and Gallop and…
Medical practitioners used to take a Hippocratic Oath, affirming their obligation to do the right thing by their patients. Do/should members of the legal profession make a similar promise to respect the rule of law and honour the freedoms enshrined in th…
As the various state and territory governments are bit-by-bit expanding the use of DNA databases, here are two suggestions that would increase public confidence (or make politicians think a bit more carefully a) To give public confidence in…
CLA has today (22 June 2006) called again for the Australian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into sedition legislation to be extended for six months. “If Attorney-General Ruddock can extend the Cole Oil-for-Food Inquiry for three months, he should extend…
