Australias Descent Into Totalitarian Fascism Common law doth control Acts of Parliament and adjudge them when against common right to be void. Trial by Jury is indeed a fundamental right under Magna Carta, and because it is judgement by other subjects/citizens is the last defence of the ordinary man against the otherwise overwhelming power of the State – and the power increasingly of unscrupulous, incompetent and totalitarian politicians. MAGNA CARTA 1215, CAP XXXIX: “No freeman shall be taken indeed imprisoned, either dispossessed, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, nor pass over him, nor send over him, except by means of the legal judgement of his own equals (Trial by Jury) indeed the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay, Right or Justice.” Well we seem to have a serious breach of our fundamental Rights in line with Treason and the question remains; What do we do about it? Core concerns relate to mandatory sentences, reversal of onus of proof, arbitrary detention, government interference with the judiciary, and the ability to use these new laws against any association (not just “bikies”) – for the full story, the link is: amnesty.org.au/news/comments/33255/ The main issues of concern to Amnesty are: Queensland’s new bike laws do away with the notion of innocent until proven guilty which could lead to arbitrary detentions and an undermining of the independence of the judiciary. Prosecutions under the new Queensland bikie laws fail to meet international fair trial standards. The laws give mandatory sentences of up to 25 years in addition to a standard sentence where a person is accused of being a member and/or officer of a criminal association. Broad laws cover all associations, not just bikies: There is no mention of bikes or criminal activity in the definition of association. “One of the major issues we have is the language of the Act is so broad that in Amnesty International’s experience, they are open to abuse,” said Michael Hayworth, Amnesty International Australia spokesperson. Guilty until proven innocent? The laws reverse the burden of proof, forcing those accused of being ‘vicious lawless associates’ or ‘office bearers’ of the association to prove that they are not participants in criminal associations. This severely undermines the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty that all Queenslanders enjoy. A ‘vicious lawless associate’ is then sentenced to 15 years jail on top of the sentence they receive for the declared offence. If the person is an officer of the association and cannot prove otherwise they are liable to a further ten years. Arbitrary detention: The changes to the bail laws mean that courts have little option but to refuse bail to those accused of participating in criminal organisations, unless the person demonstrates reasons that they should not be in jail. There are two problems here: (1) the burden of proof is reversed, meaning the accused person has to prove they should not be in custody rather than the state proving they should be in jail; and (2) people have the right not to be in prison, even before a trial, unless it is proven to be necessary. We are in grave danger here guys because what we do not stop now will only get worse....much worse! The time will come when we will have no choice but to organize, but by then it may be too late~ scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6296&context=jclc
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 08:04:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015