DownUnderAllOver is a round-up of legal news from both State and federal jurisdictions, and contains topical articles and short pieces from Alternative Law Journal committees around the country.
The Queensland government has committed to reforming the youth justice system with the introduction of the trial of youth boot camps and the announcement of a review of the Youth Justice Act 1992 as part of the Government’s Six Month Action Plan (January to June 2013).
Queensland’s Crime and Misconduct Commission (‘CMC’), like the Criminal Justice Commission before it, was established to help restore confidence in Queensland’s public institutions after the 1987–89 Fitzgerald Inquiry.
The CMC is the subject of two recent reviews. The first, undertaken by former High Court Judge Ian Callinan QC, has made 17 recommendations. Public release of the full report awaits Crown Law advice. According to Premier Newman, the CMC is ‘threatening legal action’ if the full report is released.
Outbreaks of Hendra Virus in Queensland in recent years have resulted in a more responsive approach by government to the management of flying foxes. Queensland farmers have, for some time, been calling for measures to control flying foxes which affect their crops. Consequently, the Nature Conservation (Wildlife Management) Regulation 2006 was amended in 2012 to allow the killing of flying foxes under a damage mitigation permit (‘DMP’), where flying foxes have caused damage to crops resulting in significant economic loss.
The Serious Sex Offenders Act was passed in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly on 26 March 2013. The Act introduces a new scheme which sets out a primary objective (section 3), ‘to enhance the protection and safety of victims of serious sex offences and the community … by allowing for the control, by continued detention or supervised release, of offenders who have committed serious sex offences and pose a serious danger to the community’.
The Crimes Amendment (Consorting and Organised Crime) Act 2012 (NSW) introduced a range of measures ostensibly aimed at organised criminal gangs, including new ‘consorting’ laws which commenced on 9 April 2013.
Under section 93X of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ‘habitually consorting with convicted offenders’ is an indictable offence with a maximum penalty of 3 years’ imprisonment or a $15 000 fine.
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