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
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The right to free speech and the right to a fair trial are two of the most cherished values in a civilised society. However, they can and do come into conflict. Traditionally under our legal system this conflict has been resolved by effectively prohibiting the disclosure of allegations against a person until they have reached a stage where there is sufficient evidence to support a charge. At that point limited publicity is permitted. And then full publicity occurs at the time of trial. We support that traditional arrangement. Two reasons are traditionally given for this approach. The first is to protect the reputation of persons. Secondly to protect their right to a fair trial.
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The Council’s clear and oft-stated preference is for the government to legalise cannabis without any restrictions
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In the Council’s view the case for a Human Rights Act is quite simply irrefutable. In saying that the Council does not think that a Human Rights Act will constitute a revolution in either sense. That is, a Human Rights Act will not create a human rights nirvana in Queensland. Nor will it wreck the separation of powers between the branches of the government or destroy our democracy. What it will do is represent a bold statement of commitment by the Queensland Government to bring human rights closer to the heart of political culture in this state and provide a place where the marginalised and disadvantaged in our community can seek redress for their grievances.
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In our submission, the process contemplated under this legislation is extremely bureaucratic and process driven. The focus of the legislation should be the treatment of ill people. In California, you can see a doctor and walk out of the pharmacy the same day with a prescription. Why can we not have that system in this country?
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Economic research indicates that early intervention is a more cost effective way of dealing with crime than conventional sanctions such as imprisonment
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The Council finds it nonsense to suggest appointment based solely on merit by this process is possible. Nor does the Council think that the public is best served by continuing to portray the notion that there is an idealised standard for a Judge and there is always a clear front-runner for the role. The Council is certain that for any position there are a considerable number of choices who would be more than capable of performing the role well. Society’s main interest is that the appointee is one of those capable of performing the role well. To that end it must be beyond doubt that the appointment was neither arbitrary nor political. That is what it is at the moment.
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“I can say without knowing the details that a significant number of them despite having been punished according to law, have been sentenced again to a bleak existence without their loved ones, without income and in many cases because they can’t speak the language with no prospect of any meaningful existence in the communities to which they have been sent.”
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"citizenship is not a license that expires upon misbehaviour. The duties of citizenship are numerous and the discharge of many of these obligations is essential to the security and well-being of the Nation. The citizen who fails to pay his taxes or to abide by the laws safeguarding the integrity of elections deals a dangerous blow to his country. But could a citizen be deprived of his nationality for evading these basic responsibilities of citizenship?….But citizenship is not lost every time a duty of citizenship is shirked. And the deprivation of citizenship is not a weapon the government may use to express its displeasure at a citizen's conduct however reprehensible that conduct may be. As long as a person does not voluntarily renounce or abandon his citizenship… his fundamental right of citizenship is secure."
Read MoreThe Council recognises that this Bill is a response to concerns in the community about alcohol related violence. However, the Council maintains that the response to this issue needs to take into account the right to privacy, the right to freedom of association and the right to due process. All of these rights are recognised in Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The QCCL has as its objective the implementation of the rights contained in this instrument in Queensland.
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The Bill undermines the principled asymmetry which is at the heart of the criminal justice system. That principle reflects the proposition that the State with all its resources and powers should not be allowed to make repeated attempts to convict an individual of an alleged offence.
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The QCCL does not take the view that there is a human right to access alcohol. We note in this regard the discussion of this issue by McMurdo P. and Justice Keane in Aurukun Shire Council and Anor –v- CEO Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing [2010] QCA 37 at paragraphs 43 and 142 to 145. McMurdo P. returned to the issue in the decision of Morton –v- Queensland Police Service [2010] QCA 160.[1]
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Since the end of the 1800’s there has been a shift from the punishment of children to the treatment of children and a clear acknowledgement that their age should be taken into account. This is because children are morally different from adults as a result of the fact that they do not have the same judgment skills, self-control and ability to know right from wrong. Children take more risks, pay less attention to negative consequences, are impulsive and look at short term outcomes and not a long term perspective. They also suffer more from peer pressure.
Because children are impulsive and do not plan for the future, the concept of deterrence has a particularly limited application to them.
These views of the differences between adults and children have recently been profoundly reinforced by modern neuro-scientific research
Voter Identification Laws Should be Rejected: Last week the Queensland Government introduced a Bill which will require voters to produce identification before voting at state elections. Michael Cope, President of the QCCL, said today, “Voter identification laws will unjustifiably disenfranchise the elderly, the young, the poor and the disadvantaged.”
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Reviewing these activities confirms my view that we are trying to carry out an ambitious task with quite inadequate resources, a task which is well beyond the capacity of a small group of concerned people attempting to cope in their spare time on a voluntary basis with difficult matters often requiring considerable research and expertise…
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The current state government shows blithe disregard for the separation of powers and contempt for its critics such as this resilient and wily Council. As a republican former Attorney-General, I am reluctant to offer advice to the present, monarchist Attorney-General Jarrod Bleije; but, out of respect for the current Queen who is after all a constitutional monarch, the Attorney really should approach Buckingham Palace to seek a renaming of the Queen Elizabeth II Supreme and District Courts Building to the Stuart Kings Courts building. This would reflect more accurately his recently legislated power to use executive power to override the Judiciary. Courts can be such a nuisance to cocky governments.
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A review of the discussion document indicates that the only research that has been undertaken to prepare it is into opinion polls. It is a document designed to pander to some of the worst prejudices in the community
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Both industrial organisations and corporations are economic actors pursuing their economic interests in the economic market and the political market.The interests of shareholders and the members of industrial organisations are in this regard indistinguishable from one another. There is no legitimate basis for subjecting one set to a series of burdens and controls which do not apply to others. Or to put it in a positive way, there is no reason why one set of individuals, that is members of industrial organisations, should have more rights than shareholders.
Read MoreThe Council views some human rights and civil liberties as so fundamental that they should never be curtailed. These include habeas corpus and the prohibitions against slavery, torture and secret trials. John Stuart Mill also accepted that free speech was a right not subject to a simple balancing analysis.
Deputy Premier’s attack on the CMC is a worrying portent for the future of the CMC.
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