NSW is implementing a system to control young people that has failed abjectly in the UK. The Youth Control Orders – YoYos – deprive people aged 14 to 19 of free speech, freedom of association and freedom of movement. The ailing government of Australia’s…
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…
Mohammad Jawad was a child in December 2002 when rendered into Guantanamo Bay for throwing a grenade at American soldiers in Afghanistan. His ‘signed’ – with a thumbprint, because he doesn’t read or write – written confession is in Farsi, a language he d…
The future directions for laws and legal matters in Australia is determined in three meetings a year of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG), which also includes New Zealand.
The July 2008 meeting covered a range of important matters, incl…
When an Indigenous girl is gang-raped, sometimes the justice system goes on trial. But what of our society and ourselves, by inattention permitting a festering inequity that breeds an inevitability of trouble. Peter Applegarth SC of Queensland Council fo…
CLA says the ACT Government’s review of the Road Transport (Alcohol and Drugs) Act raises serious ‘fair go’ questions about whether random drug testing (RDT) is either appropriate or viable; whether delaying 1 in 7 drivers tested for 30 minutes is reason…
I’ve not seen Bill Henson’s photographs, so I cannot express an opinion one Way or another … unlike far too many politicians from all parties. But … if we are going to protest against photographing young kids nude, shouldn’t we equally protest again…
How quickly passions can turn, even against a dictator! Professional diplomats occupying ivorian towers above the streets are possibly the poorest of prophets, Roger Smith explains as he paints a first-person picture of how students led Indonesia to embr…
Is it fair to tobacco retailers for the ACT Government to pay 15-year-old ‘spies’ to encourage cigarette sales to minors? What effect will a cross-examination grilling in court have on the young double-agents? CLA Director Anthony Williamson studied the…
The Australian Electoral Commission has identified an issue with enrolling young voters. There’s a readymade, simple solution to enrolling virtually all young people the moment they turn 18, says Civil Liberties Australia (CLA) Director Lance Williamson.…