The Offence of Termination of Pregnancy by an Unqualified Person
Until late 2019, it was a crime in New South Wales for a woman to have an abortion, or for another to perform an abortion or supply a drug for use in an abortion. These abortion offences were contained in...
COVID-19 Highlights the Need for an Australian Bill of Rights
Around the world, legal proceedings are being commenced against governments over social control measures implemented during COVID-19, but this presents a legal conundrum which must weigh the reduction of freedoms and legal safeguards against the need to stop the spread...
Pandemic Police Powers Should Not Be Used to Silence Dissent
Just after 4 pm on 10 April, a cavalcade of around seventy vehicles decorated with trade union signs and protest placards made its way through Sydney’s CBD to drive past NSW parliament, calling for no worker to be left behind...
Should Pope Francis Have Made Comments After Pell’s Acquittal?
‘Empty streets and eerie silence greet George Pell’s final verdict,’ read the headline from the Guardian’s coverage of George Pell’s High Court acquittal this week. And how telling those words are. If we weren’t all preoccupied with the immediate and...
Will COVID-19 Police Powers Creep Into Permanency, Just Like Terrorism Laws?
The global spread of COVID-19 is hardly the first pandemic the species has faced. Probably the best known is the Black Death that spread through Europe, Asia and northern Africa in the 1300s. The chief measures to combat it were...
Police to Use Cameras to Enforce COVID-19 Restrictions
They told us the technology would be used to catch serious criminals, to protect us from potential terrorists and to keep our roads safe. But this weekend, police will use number plate recognition and cameras to ensure that we all...
Global COVID-19 Developments: Forced Removals, Indefinite Detention
The COVID-19 landscape is shifting. The epicentre is no longer Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province. After 76 days, that city’s complete lockdown ended on Wednesday: the borders reopened, many restrictions were lifted, however officials warned further infections are...
The Offence of Intentionally Coughing On or Spitting At a Public Official
Today, the New South Wales Minister for Health and Medical Research, Brad Hazzard, passed the Public Health (COVID-19 Spitting and Coughing) Order 2020 under the provisions of section 7 of the Public Health Act 2010. The order was gazetted within...
Can Police Enter My Residence to Check Compliance With a Public Health Order?
The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to unprecedented controls being placed on the Australian population, significantly restricting movement, association and gatherings. State and federal parliaments have been shut down, the executive has taken over powers normally exercised by parliament and...
COVID-19 Powers: Police Need to Use Common Sense When Exercising Their Discretion
Under NSW’s strict lockdown laws, it is an offence to leave home unless it is for work, school, to get groceries or for a limited number of other essential trips. Gatherings of more than two people are not permitted. And...
