Much has been written in the last days about the detention Order imposed on Jack Thomas. The Federal A-G has, yet again, disgraced himself and his office, by making all sorts of pronouncements when the Jack Thomas matter is presently before the Courts - first, the detention Order itself and the adjourned hearing in the Victorian Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, The Australian nails its flag to the the masthead by shamelessly villifying Thomas in various ways. Brian Walters SC, President of Liberty Victoria, writing in Crikey, attacks the Order and the implications for all Australians.
Professor George Williams and Edwina MacDonald are based at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, University of NSW. They have written a sober op-ed piece in this today's SMH:
"Control orders have no precedent in Australia. They give the Government a second chance to deprive someone of their liberty even after they have been acquitted in a fair trial or had any convictions quashed on appeal. Indeed, there is a real prospect that the High Court could strike down the law as a breach of the separation of powers in our constitution.
We do need tough laws to deal with terrorism. This is why such offences are among the most serious on the statute book. They not only criminalise committing or attempting a terrorist act, but also preparing for one."
Read the full piece here - and bear in mind that the sort of laws we are talking about here affect everyone, for no one is immune from there wide net. Remember too the underlying issue in all of this as succinctly put in the Williams - McDonald piece:
"The law normally states that someone can be deprived of their liberty only where a jury drawn from the community has found the evidence against them proved beyond reasonable doubt. With a control order, there is no jury. A judge sitting alone need only find on the balance of probabilities that the order would substantially assist in preventing terrorism or that a person has received terrorist training."
Meanwhile, The Australian nails its flag to the the masthead by shamelessly villifying Thomas in various ways. Brian Walters SC, President of Liberty Victoria, writing in Crikey, attacks the Order and the implications for all Australians.
Professor George Williams and Edwina MacDonald are based at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, University of NSW. They have written a sober op-ed piece in this today's SMH:
"Control orders have no precedent in Australia. They give the Government a second chance to deprive someone of their liberty even after they have been acquitted in a fair trial or had any convictions quashed on appeal. Indeed, there is a real prospect that the High Court could strike down the law as a breach of the separation of powers in our constitution.
We do need tough laws to deal with terrorism. This is why such offences are among the most serious on the statute book. They not only criminalise committing or attempting a terrorist act, but also preparing for one."
Read the full piece here - and bear in mind that the sort of laws we are talking about here affect everyone, for no one is immune from there wide net. Remember too the underlying issue in all of this as succinctly put in the Williams - McDonald piece:
"The law normally states that someone can be deprived of their liberty only where a jury drawn from the community has found the evidence against them proved beyond reasonable doubt. With a control order, there is no jury. A judge sitting alone need only find on the balance of probabilities that the order would substantially assist in preventing terrorism or that a person has received terrorist training."
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