Media coverage: Yahoo News The content we linked to has been removed

A bill which could see NSW farm trespassers face the toughest penalties in the country is set for an upper house probe, with civil organisations fearful the draft laws will hinder the right to peaceful protest.

NSW Council of Civil Liberties President Pauline Wright said criminal laws should only be directed against those guilty of "substantial wrongdoing". Wright labelled the bill's trespass penalties overly harsh.

"This bill is designed to have a chilling effect on people's right to peaceful protest," Ms Wright said in a statement.