News — Queensland Council for Civil Liberties

Commission of Inquiry - Crime and Corruption Commission

It is this Council’s position that the monitoring role by the CCC is ineffective both in respect of individual cases and in dealing with trends in relation to complaints against police. While high level corruption or other serious police offending is investigated and prosecuted from time to time by the CCC all other cases are handed back to the QPS with a so-called monitoring role by the CCC. It is submitted that Queensland should adopt the New South Wales procedure for investigating complaints against police namely that there should be a standalone body separate from the QPS and the CCC to investigate complaints against Police.

Public Health and Other Legislation (Extension of Expiring Provisions) Amendment Bill 2022

The Council has repeatedly called on the government to publicly identify the criteria which it will use to decide that the state of emergency is no longer required. We note it has again failed to do so.

We have maintained throughout this crisis the emergency powers are justified so long as they are necessary, proportionate and are in place for the absolute minimum period. It cannot be said at this time that the case has been made for the continuation of these emergency powers.

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties4 March 2022Human Rights, Privacy, Covid19

Review of the Anti-Discrimination Act

One area of inequality is that of social status. Anti-discrimination law is directed at addressing inequalities of social status. It seeks to deal with the fact that some people in our society are denied “goods on the basis of the widely held view that certain facts about them, such as race, gender, or religion make them less entitled to those goods than others are. The fact people are subject to a widely held view of inferiority of this kind- of being less entitled to important goods and opportunities, and less suitable for valued forms of personal relationship-is a distinctive feature of discrimination

Australia’s Electronic Surveillance Framework Discussion Paper

National security and surveillance powers in Australia ought to follow the introduction of a Federal and enforceable human rights framework, recommended by a succession of law reform commissions and bringing Australia into line with other democratic nations. The protection of Australians’ human rights and associated freedoms is the rationale for the existence of national security legislation and therefore must be the paramount consideration for the use of intrusive powers. Adopting the text and spirit of the guiding principles for reform contained within the Discussion Paper, we consider that it would be appropriate to have the objects of a simplified Electronic Surveillance Act coupled with clear requirements for the use of national security and surveillance powers expressly reflecting Australia’s obligations pursuant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This would instill public confidence by requiring law enforcement agencies (and Court’s issuing warrants) to have an express object of human rights compliance together with a decision making criteria that directly requires contemplation of human rights implications

Submission in relation to Social Media (Anti Trolling) Bill

The Internet is the new public square. So much of public debate, discussion and exchange of information now takes place on the Internet. On that basis, the doctrines of freedom of speech must be applied to the Internet.The rights of speakers on the Internet need to be protected. Another fundamental aspect of the right to freedom of speech is the right to do so anonymously. History is replete with examples of people having exercised their right of speech then being subject to reprisals by government or individuals

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties21 January 2022Free speech, Privacy

Review of continued detention of imprisoned terrorists

As John Stuart Mill argued the preventive power of the State is, “far more liable to be abused, to the prejudice of liberty, then the punitory function; for there is hardly any part of the legitimate freedom of action of a human being that would not admit of being represented, and fairly too, as increasing the facilities for some form or other of delinquency.”

Journalist Shield Laws

The right of freedom of speech, dictates that the media must be given the widest possible latitude to seek and publish truthful speech about matters of public interest so that the audience is best able to form their beliefs and desires.

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties17 January 2022Free Speech

ACT’s Human Rights Act 2004 Review

Two overarching issues arise from gaps in the ACT human rights legislation: lack of access to justice for breach of a human right and consequent lack of accountability within decision-making bodies. These are inextricably linked to the two purposes of human rights legislation as set out above.

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties17 January 2022Human Rights, Human Rights Act

Religious Discrimination Bill and Related Legislation

Religious people are entitled to laws which remove practices that restrict the range of opportunities available to them. But they are not entitled to special accommodations for their preferences. The distinction is between limits on the range of opportunities open to people and limits on the choices they may make between the opportunities available to them which are a consequence of the interaction between laws of general application and their religious preferences.

Inspector of Detention Services Bill 2021

The QCCL has been campaigning for an inspector of prisons for years and welcomed the recommendation of the Sofronoff inquiry that one be established. It would however be remiss of us not to mention the fact that it is now almost 5 years since that recommendation was made. However, as they say, better late than never

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties18 November 2021Prisons

No body, no parole

This power to block parole for decades after a person has already served 20 or 30 years or more in prison will be exercised by the President of the Queensland Parole Board sitting in secret with the process totally lacking in transparency or accountability.

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties9 September 2021Criminal Justice

Orders to search phones

However, there are real concerns as to whether this expansion of powers will infringe upon an individual’s right to personal privacy[6] and the privilege against self-incrimination.[7] The consequences of these infringements are exacerbated by the high likelihood that vulnerable and minority groups are disproportionately affected by these laws.[8]

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties9 September 2021police powers

Shield Laws for Journalists

the press is and must be independent from government and has a presumptive, though not unconditional, right to seek out the news. Freedom of speech is rooted in a distrust of the government’s capacity to regulate speech, particularly political speech, where it is in a position of a conflict of interest. This conflict is no starker when it is seeking to restrain the use of embarrassing information obtained by journalists

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties14 July 2021Free speech

Inquiry into serious vilification and hate crimes

The QCCL unreservedly condemns all forms of racial vilification and discrimination. However, in the Council’s view, it is another thing to make the expression of such views illegal.

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties12 July 2021Free Speech

Submission on Extension of Covid Emergency Powers

The virus is not going to disappear any time soon. This means, we are eventually going to have to start finding ways to deal with it that are not draconian. The widespread availability of safe and effective vaccines makes it not only possible for us to cope with the virus in the way we cope with the flu, but dictates that the emergency measures which have been implemented to deal with it must also come to an end

Submission to Transport and Resources committee concerning Engine Immobiliser Technology

the first question that must be addressed is whether the technology is actually going to reduce harm caused by police chases. The chase must presumably have to start. There must still have to be a police policy dealing with the circumstances in which chases will be commenced, even if they are intended to be relatively short because this technology will be available.

Overseas discussions of this issue make reference to avoiding problems with other vehicles by implementing technology in all cars which enables each car to react to the presence of another vehicle.

This then brings us to serious other issues connected with this type of technology. Those issues relate to the fundamental rights of privacy and freedom of movement.

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties16 April 2021Privacy, police powers

Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021

We start off by expressing our dismay at the government’s policy reversal since the position that it took when in opposition in 2014 in opposing legislation introduced by the Newman government which followed similar erroneous principles.

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties12 March 2021youth and the law

Submission re – proposed amendments to mobile phone road rules

we reiterate that a solution to the issue of driver distraction is not capable of resolution via the use of artificial intelligence to detect offences. On the terms of the amended primary legislation, this simply means that the power to enforce law becomes easier and automated. An increased ease by which law may be enforced is not a legitimate means to addressing the issue of distracted drivers

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties21 February 2021police powers, Surveillance

Submission to review of Commonwealth Privacy Act

The QCCL supports a statutory tort for the invasion of privacy as a means for people to take their own action to protect their privacy in cases where the statutory regime and the common law do not apply or do not provide adequate protection.

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties18 December 2020privacy, politics

Criminal Code (Consent and Mistake of Fact) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020

We submitted that the law should reflect the proposition that in determining whether or not an accused’s belief that a person was consenting was reasonable, the jury should be able to take into account whether the accused was aware of circumstances which would lead a reasonable person to inquire further into the issue of consent. So that if the circumstances known to the accused were such that a reasonable person would not or might not take further steps to ascertain consent, then the accused will not be required to take any further steps either.

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