The Law Council urges against mandatory minimum sentences

The Law Council called on the Federal Government to reconsider their push for mandatory minimum sentences.

Passing the misconceived mandatory sentencing provisions in the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Crimes Against Children and Community Protection Measures) Bill 2019 sets a dangerous precedent.

Mandatory minimum sentences are abhorrent to the whole notion of sentencing where judicial discretion is essential. They can result in perverse jury verdicts of ‘not guilty’ for low-end offending where juries think the sentencing outcomes will be unfair because of the mandatory minimum. Read more.

Advocacy

Inquiries and consultations as of 15 June 2020.

• Australia's Technology Investment Roadmap: discussion paper, Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

• Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill 2020 [Provisions], Parliamentary Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

• Intelligence and Security Legislation Amendment (Implementing Independent Intelligence Review) Bill 2020, Parliamentary Senate Standing Committees on Finance and Public Administration.

• Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill 2020, Parliamentary Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

• Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability – Criminal Justice System Issues Paper, Royal Commission.

• 2020 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release - nominated areas for comment, Department of Industry, Science, Energy  and Resources.

• Inquiry into food pricing and food security in remote Indigenous communities, Parliamentary House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs.

• Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, Royal Commission.

• Exemption of delegated legislation from parliamentary oversight, Parliamentary Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation.

• Review of the current CPD requirements for lawyers in Victoria, Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner.

• 3rd UPR cycle: contributions and participation of "other stakeholders" in the UPR, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Australia.

• Inquiry into the human rights of women and girls in the Pacific, Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.

• Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence, Parliamentary House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs.

• National Water Reform, Productivity Commission.

• Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Royal Commission.

• Review into the Framework of Religious Exemptions in Anti-discrimination Legislation, Australian Law Reform Commission. 

• Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Attorney-General's Department. 

• Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - First Nations People with Disability issues paper, Royal Commission.

• Inquiry into whether Australia should examine the use of targeted sanctions to address human rights abuses -  Questions on Notice, Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. 

• Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, Royal Commission (Supplementary).

• Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology, Parliamentary Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology.

• Review of AFP Powers, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

• Review of ‘Declared Areas’ Provisions, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

News and Media 

Media releases and statements:

• The Law Council urges against mandatory minimum sentences, 16 June 2020.
• End to dual regulation of migration lawyers, necessary and timely, 15 June 2020.
• There is merit in Magnitsky-style legislation says the Law Council, 15 June 2020.
• Former Law Council president Morry Bailes AM recognised in Queen's Birthday honours, 11 June 2020. 
• Vale Paul Drum, 5 June 2020. 

​Key coverage:

• Mandatory sentencing for child sex abuse 'doesn't work', Law Council says, ABC RN Breakfast, 17 June 2020.
• Communications bill will gnaw at privacy, first published in The Australian, 16 June 2020. Opinion piece by Pauline Wright. 
• Outrage as Labor blocks mandatory terms for pedophiles, The Australian, 16 June 2020.
• What will it take for governments to recognise Australia's justice gap is a national tragedy?, The Guardian, 16 June 2020. Opinion piece by Pauline Wright.
• Magnitsky-style laws have merit, says LCA, Lawyers Weekly, 16 June 2020. 
• Anonymous transcripts reveal dysfunctional jury room in childcare fraudster case, ABC online, 13 June 2020. 
• How advocacy from lawyers will evolve post-pandemic, Lawyers Weekly, 12 June 2020. 
• Virus brings female-friendly law firms, Australian Financial Review, 12 June 2020.
• Justice groups issue five-point plan to reduce Indigenous imprisonment, The Guardian, 12 June 2020. 
• Pat Dodson criticises failure to reduce 'awful blight' of Aboriginal deaths in custody, The Guardian, 11 June 2020.
• Property deals defy the downturn, says PEXA, The Australian, 10 June 2020.
• Interview with Pauline Wright on ABC News, 9 June 2020, discussing the Black Lives Matter protests and social distancing rules.