An Algerian avionics expert, detained, on the USA-Canada border, six days before 11 Sept 2001: the innocent Benamar Benatta’s five-year saga of torture and despair nears closure as the Canadian Government prepares to negotiate compensation for the man, b…
A full bench of Federal Court has ruled that ASIO must tell deported peace activist Scott Parkin why they gave him an adverse security assessment. In 2005, the Australian Government cancelled Parkin’s visa and escorted him back to the USA. Now he can fin…
Proposed new sexual assault law takes away a 400-year-old right to defend yourself in person in court, introduces secret trials, and is farcical in relation to some ill-thought-through provisions. It needs major review, partly because many problems it ai…
An Australian Parliamentary Committee is proposing sweeping changes to previous laissez-faire policies which expose Ausralians to the death penalty overseas, and also ignore what happens to people we extradite to other countries. Civil Liberties Australi…
Can a man clad only in boxer shorts order six police officers, who fear domestic violence may have occured, from his home? Yes, in certain circumstances, says the High Court, confirming nearly $0.5m in damages and proving that The Castle was a documentar…
A fair go and justice for all must drive the ACT courts system, not speedy through-put as the main consideration, Civil Liberties Australia says in its submission on court reform. CLA calls on the ACT Government to raise competency at the investigation,…
Remember the American peace activist who got ASIO’s, the AFP’s and Immigration’s knickers in a knot, until they arrested him for viciously drinking a cup of coffee in Melbourne? The authorities still haven’t admitted any error – see his story as told for…
The NSW Parliament’s own legislative review body laments the absence of a bill of rights in Australia, and in NSW, in a new report. The NSW Legislative Review Committee also says that half the Bills presented to the NSW Parliament over the past five year…
Major challenges for the internet’s future, from security and competition to enhancing social and economic development, are the subject of the Seoul, Korea, OECD Ministerial Meeting 17-18 June 2008. Here’s the contribution by a coalition of civil libert…
Liberal MP Petro Georgiou adds his weight to the call for an independent review of Australia’s terror laws. CLA says we also need a benchmark statement of what Australia’s civil liberties are, against which we can measure the 50-plus anti-terror laws pas…