MEDIA RELEASE

NSWCCL is gravely concerned by a recent Report¹ from the Commonwealth Ombudsman, which identified that many of the authorisations made by ACT Policing for access to telecommunications data between 13 October 2015 and 2019 were not properly authorised. Of the 1,713 individual accesses to location-based services (LBS) by ACT Policing for that period, only nine were fully compliant with the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (TIA Act).

2 March 2021

PUBLIC STATEMENT

Prime Minister abrogates his responsibility to look into the allegations of historical rape

In response to questions at a press conference yesterday about allegations made by a woman that she was raped in 1988 by a man who is now a Cabinet Minister, the Prime Minister stated that he had reported the matter to the Australian Federal Police and that the Commissioner had indicated that there was “nothing immediate” in terms of necessary actions that he considered the PM should be taking. The Prime Minister said that he was awaiting the advice of the Commissioner on the status of “other jurisdictions” that could be potentially involved when the Commissioner was “in a position to do so”.

The Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) thanks the Department for Communities and Justice for its invitation to make a submission concerning the Review of Section 293 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986.

Excerpt:

View submission

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission furnished its report: Inquiry into NSW Police Force strip search practices to Parliament on Tuesday 15th December, 2020. 

It is the final report in the Commission’s ongoing inquiry into police strip search practices. The Inquiry represents a significant body of work, comprising a total of seven investigations, as well as analysis of NSW Police Force policies and training, and oversight of police investigations of complaints about strip searches.

PUBLIC STATEMENT – 9 NOVEMBER 2020

The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) is opposed to the Drug Supply Prohibition Order (DSPO) Pilot Scheme Bill 2020 (the Bill) which provides police with extraordinary powers in circumstances where adequate powers currently exist to search and seize items related to drug activity.

The Second Reading Speech highlights that the purpose of the Bill is to “assist police to gather evidence of drug supply and drug manufacture effectively and efficiently”. The Bill is designed to have a “deterrent effect on a person subject to a DSPO, who may reconsider whether re‑engaging in a lifestyle involving the manufacture or supply of illicit drugs is worth the increased risk of police detection and further conviction”.

2020 NSWCCL AGM

Item 9.2 Policy on ICAC

 NSWCCL strongly affirms the crucial role of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in NSW. As Richard Ackland writes, the episode currently playing out with respect to Daryl Maguire, and incidentally, Gladys Berejiklian, is “a timely reminder of the disinfecting sunlight that ICAC is capable of shining”.[1] To quote our President, “while the present proceedings may not encourage federal parliamentarians to move forward more speedily with a federal ICAC, they are certainly encouraging the electors to push for one.”[2]

Last month, 23 June 2020, three members of the NSWCCL Committee, President Nicholas Cowdery AO, QC, Vice-President Dr. Eugene Schofield-Georgeson and committee member Jared Wilk (co-Convenor of Human Rights and Civil Liberties Action Group), met with NSW Commissioner for Police Mick Fuller and Deputy Commissioner Jeff Loy. Law and policy issues relating to strip searching, drugs, protests and policing of Indigenous people were discussed.

The NSWCCL is grateful that the Commissioner and his deputy were willing to engage in meaningful and open dialogue with us. We consider this meeting and the willingness of the Commissioner to engage in future dialogue to be a positive development and an opportunity for constructive discussion in relation to the issues which are important to the Council’s principles and values.

We will continue to advocate strongly for improvements and reform in relation to law, policy and internal policies and guidelines which are relevant to policing and to work with the community to strengthen and protect civil liberties and human rights in NSW.

The NSWCCL has written to the Commissioner of Corrective Services NSW, the NSW Health Minister and the CEO of Justice Health to express concerns in relation to the health and safety of persons in custody in NSW in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic.  

The Council notes that there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the inmate population and that 23 have been isolated for testing. We note that there was a confirmed case of a healthcare employee at the Long Bay prison hospital in March 2020. 

Police officers who conducted strip searches of children hadn't been properly trained and didn't understand the law on what they were doing, a series of landmark watchdog reports has found.

The conduct of NSW Police officers in carrying out strip searches of teenagers at music festivals has been found to be unlawful in a series of landmark reports by the NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.

Over 400 Former US Attorneys, DOJ Leaders and Attorneys, and Judges Urge President Trump to Release Vulnerable Individuals from Federal Custody to Avoid Deadly Outbreak of COVID-19

In a letter from 405 former DOJ leaders, attorneys, and federal judges , including 35 U.S. Attorneys, these criminal justice leaders urge President Trump to take rapid action to release medically at risk individuals from federal custody to protect them and our communities from the catastrophic spread of COVID-19 in federal facilities. The letter calls on President Trump to use his executive power to commute sentences for vulnerable individuals, urge policies to limit the number of new people entering federal custody, and secure emergency funding for reentry services and support of state and local efforts to similarly address the spread of COVID-19 in custodial settings.