OFF THE WIRE
Anna Patty
smh.com.au
New bikie laws flawed, expert says.
Photo: Ken Irwin
NEW laws designed to help police break up bikie gangs are open to abuse because they allow police to punish anyone who associates with people who have been convicted of a criminal offence in the past, a legal expert warns.
Alex Steel, an associate professor of criminal law at the University of NSW, said the planned legislation could be selectively enforced by police to discriminate, including against people in Aboriginal communities.
''The problem is this legislation casts the net so widely so that everyone who has been convicted of an indictable offence is on tenterhooks for the rest of their life,'' he said.
Advertisement: Story continues below
''It undercuts the notion that someone who has done their time can start again in life.''Professor Steel said that under existing laws police gave six warnings before charging a person with consorting, which can carry a six-month prison penalty. But under the new laws introduced by the state government last week, police are required to give only one warning before a person can be convicted of consorting and jailed for three years.
''This law will be selectively enforced. Thousands of people have previous convictions but are now law-abiding, so it asks police to make choices about who they are going to go after," Professor Steel said.
''Is it aimed at bikies or can it stop Aboriginal kids from talking to each other?
''It also allows any young constable to have a go at someone. There is potential for corruption.''
Professor Steel also said the consorting law criminalises people who have not been convicted of an offence. ''The person who talks to the person with the criminal record is convicted - the criminality is directed at the wrong person in the communication,'' he said. ''An otherwise innocent person should not have to justify why they are talking to someone.''
Consorting laws were introduced to combat razor gangs of the 1920s and '30s, but were later scaled back because they had led to police corruption.
The proposed legislation provides a defence for family members, which has been criticised by the opposition police spokesman, Nathan Rees.
''Notorious criminal families in Sydney that have been the basis of Underbelly have now got a green light from this government to continue their criminal operations whilst being protected by the Attorney General,'' Mr Rees said.
A spokesman for the Attorney-General, Greg Smith, said the package of new laws introduced last week were not targeted at petty crime and provided police with the powers they needed to tackle serious gang crime.
''The violent nature of their crimes requires tough responses,'' the spokesman said.
''This bill puts police in a position to do what they do best every day and make a judgment about criminal behaviour.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/bikie-laws-open-to-abuse-says-law-expert-20120219-1th8b.html#ixzz1mqbDfjQV
