Australia, Law Council has concerns with biker laws

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Anti-bikie laws sweeping across Australia are an unfortunate example of anti-terror provisions creeping into ordinary law enforcement, the Law Council of Australia says.

Anti-bikie laws sweeping across Australia are an unfortunate example of anti-terror provisions creeping into ordinary law enforcement, the Law Council of Australia says.

Council president Glenn Ferguson said the fight against organised crime was important but legislation should not diminish the rights and freedoms of the Australian people and turn traditional notions of criminal justice on their head.

His comments came after Thursday's High Court judgement which struck out aspects of South Australia's Serious and Organised Crime Act or so-called anti-bikie laws.

The court found the provision forcing magistrates to approve any government application for a control order over a gang member or an associate as unconstitutional.

The court said the provision went against the independence and integrity of the courts.

Anti-bikie laws sweeping across Australia are an unfortunate example of anti-terror provisions creeping into ordinary law enforcement, the Law Council of Australia says.

Council president Glenn Ferguson said the fight against organised crime was important but legislation should not diminish the rights and freedoms of the Australian people and turn traditional notions of criminal justice on their head.

His comments came after Thursday's High Court judgement which struck out aspects of South Australia's Serious and Organised Crime Act or so-called anti-bikie laws.

The court found the provision forcing magistrates to approve any government application for a control order over a gang member or an associate as unconstitutional.

The court said the provision went against the independence and integrity of the courts.

Mr Ferguson said the decision demonstrated the vigilance with which that integrity and independence was safeguarded in Australia.

"The judgement shows that the High Court will not tolerate government regulation which attempts to provide a veneer of judicial legitimacy to what is, in effect, a purely executive process," he said on Friday.

But Mr Ferguson said the case was decided on relatively narrow grounds and the court was not concerned with evaluating the legislation from either a public policy or human rights perspective.

He said the council still had a number of concerns with the SA legislation and similar laws in other jurisdictions.

"The so-called anti-bikie laws, which have spread across Australia, are an unfortunate example of Australia's anti-terror laws creeping into and influencing ordinary law enforcement," he said.

"These laws try to shift the focus of criminal liability from a person's conduct to their associations.

"As a result they have the potential to unduly burden freedom of association.

"They also have a disproportionately harsh effect on certain sections of the population who may be exposed to the risk of criminal sanction simply because of their family or community connections."

The law council said anti-bikie laws assumed that clear lines could and should be drawn between a certain criminal class and the rest of society, something that did not reflect Australian life where the lives of people intersected.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8139618/law-council-has-concerns-with-bikie-laws