ADMISSION OF LEGAL PRACTITIONERS: LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
Admission of legal practitioners (CM. 25.1.95)
That the NSW Council for Civil Liberties condemns the new requirements for the admission of legal practitioners instigated by the Law Society of NSW as unnecessarily restrictive, severely curtailing the opportunity for many persons to be admitted as legal practitioners.
This affects the civil liberties of people in NSW in two ways: It severely restricts the opportunity to enter the legal profession by persons without either substantial funds or close contacts with legal practitioners and gives unprecedented control over who is
admitted to the profession by those already in the profession. By necessary implication, it restricts the pool of legal practitioners from which the public may wish to obtain legal advice.
FREE BEACH ASSOCIATION
(AGM. 25.10.95)
That the NSW Council for Civil Liberties Inc fully supports the aims of the Free Beach Association of NSW Inc.
Aims of the association:
- To pursue actions to have the laws in NSW changed where necessary to allow legal nude activities (eg. sport, sunbathing, swimming) on designated public areas.
- To lobby for extensions to the number of areas, and to already designated areas, and access and maintenance of reasonable facilities for such designated areas.
- To promote nudism in healthy activities with particular reference to free beaches.
- To retain Reef Beach as a clothes-optional beach.
INTERFERENCE WITH THE DPP
AGM. 25.10.95
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties notes with concern the apparent attempts at interference with the Office of the DPP. The CCL believes that it is vital that this body remains and is seen to be of independent status.
CCL therefore calls on all parliamentary representatives to desist from this behaviour and to maintain the independence of the DPP and other statutory bodies such as the Ombudsman and the Privacy Committee.
LEGISLATION
TEOH (AGM. 25.10.95)
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties condemns the Federal Government's move to reverse the effect of the High Court's decision in Teoh. The High Court held that Commonwealth public officials in exercising discretionary powers were bound to have regard to international treaties signed by the Commonwealth Government.
The Council deplores the Government's hypocrisy in representing to the world that we will abide by our treaties, while expressly denying the use of those treaties by Australian citizens in courts of law.
Crimes Amendment (Controlled Operations) Bill 1995 (AGM. 25.10.95)
This Council strongly opposes the proposed Commonwealth; Crimes Amendment (Controlled Operations) Bill 1995 and calls on the Federal Government to withdraw the Bill and calls on the Senate to reject the legislation.
The Council for Civil Liberties urges on the Parliament a consideration of the words of Chief Justice Mason in that decision when he said; Circumstances can arise in which the need to discourage unlawful conduct on the part of enforcement officers and to preserve the integrity of the administration of Criminal Justice outweighs the public interest in a conviction of those guilty of crime.
POLICE
AGM. 25.10.95
The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties:
- Congratulates the Royal Commission on Police for its excellent work in exposing widespread corruption and abuse of civil liberties within the Police Service;
- Noting the corruption extends into the senior commissioned police officer levels, condemns the Police Commissioner, Mr Lauer, for negligence in ignoring or being oblivious to the seriousness of the problems over a period of years;
- Re-affirms the resolution carried at the CCL AGM in October 1993 that Mr Lauer should be removed from office; and calls upon the Premier, Mr Carr, to act immediately to implement this;
- Pledges that the CCL, which is uniquely placed as a body with no vested interests, will do all in its power to ensure that there will be a root-and-branch reform of the Police Service and its practices.
