20 Apr 2024

Dialogue is not enough; we need a justiciable Human Rights Act

In May 2024 the federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights will report on its review of Australia’s 2010 Human Rights Framework. The Coalition government having the Framework, the.

4 Feb 2023

The international legal community will applaud the Indigenous Voice to Parliament

If and when Australia amends its Constitution to incorporate an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, it will be acting in compliance with its international legal obligations.  A claim that the.

13 Jan 2023

Iran, ‘revolutionary courts’, executions, and human rights

The Iranian government has attempted to brutally suppress the widespread protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022. Central to Iran’s response.

25 Mar 2022

A SECRET AUSTRALIA: Revealed by the WikiLeaks exposés, Felicity Ruby and Peter Cronau (eds); Monash University Publishing, 2020

Perhaps we ought not judge a book by its cover, but we are entitled to expect a book’s title to be broadly indicative of what this book [Felicity Ruby.

15 Mar 2022

A tribute to Peter Bailey

Peter Bailey, a remarkable advocate for justice, died in November 2021. If he heard himself described in this way Peter would no doubt smile his gentle smile and protest.

25 Sep 2021

As police power increases, scrutiny of those powers diminishes …

One day in the middle of spring last year a member of the New South Wales Police Force grabbed me from behind, kicked and pushed me to the ground,.

3 Sep 2021

NSW’s anti-discrimination law is confusing and outdated

An anti-discrimination law is, in effect, a code of conduct.  An employer, an HR manager, a school principal, a shopkeeper, or hotelier needs to be able to pick up.

12 Mar 2021

The legal ethics of sexually explicit conduct

Ordinarily, a barrister’s character and reputation would be at risk if, at a professional dinner, he greets a woman he doesn’t know by pushing her head and saying “suck.

20 Oct 2020

Disproportionate policing

The ‘funding cuts’ protest on 14 October 2020 was yet another demonstration of passionate, peaceful students’ action. Except that this one received media coverage for all the wrong reasons.

15 Oct 2020

Public protest and police powers

Last Saturday I joined a few thousand people on the sand at Coogee Beach. I was not arrested. On Wednesday I watched a couple of hundred university students marching.