The Right to Protest

NSW Council for Civil Liberties has recently assisted two students charged under the Crimes Act with maliciously destroying or damaging property.

Two billboards advertising the Victoria Park land development were altered from “Sydney’s new centre of attention” to read “Villawood – Sydney’s new centre of detention”.

Photograph: ©Tim Cole 2002

The police case depended on evidence obtained from a digital camera which the police examined without permission. The camera contained several pictures of the billboards in the process of being altered, but there was no evidence that the persons depicted in the photos were the defendants in the case.

This evidence was rejected by the Magistrate hearing the case, Magistrate Ellis, who said:

“The common law does not permit police officers or anyone else…to search a person simply to see if he may have committed some crime or other. …In the common law, goods can’t be seized from a person where there has been no arrest and the seizure has not occurred during the execution of a search warrant.”

The police case then collapsed and the charges were dismissed.

The case first came to CCL attention because the billboard alteration was clearly a political protest. It is arguable that this style of protest is legally protected under the implied constitutional right of free speech on political matters. However, it was not necessary to deal with this argument, as the matter was won because the police had abused their powers.

Stephen Blanks
May 2003