By Tara Ravens AAP March 20, 2013
PEOPLE in NSW will no longer have
the "right to silence" when being questioned by police after the
Shooters and Fishers Party voted with the government on its bid to
combat gang violence.
Critics of the laws - which the government will now push through
the lower house - say it's a fundamental attack on people's rights. Notice that this Murdoch owned paper is not one of them???
Greens
MP David Shoebridge wants the government to come clean on the deal it
struck with MPs from the minor party to get the laws through the upper
house, where they have the balance of power.
"The question is, what have they been offered in return?" he told AAP.
The legislative changes allow judges and juries to take a negative view of people who exercise their right to remain silent.
What is their view on people that are capable of administrating their own affairs and inform these judges and juries that their military jurisdiction of occupancy is inferior to the superior jurisdiction of all of the tribes on this land.
The government flagged the move last August following a spate of drive-by shootings in Sydney's west.
Under
the new laws, an unfavourable inference can be drawn if an accused
person fails to mention something during official police questioning
that they could reasonably be expected to mention, and that they later
rely on in their defence.
Nothing specific and easily comprehensible, instead going for vagueness which makes it easier to find you guilty.
During debate in the upper house on Wednesday, Labor MP Sophie
Cotsis said it was "wrong in principle and undesirable in practice".
Mr
Shoebridge said it was hard to imagine a more fundamental attack on the
basic workings of the criminal justice system "under the guise of
dealing with bikies and making trials more efficient".
"The people who will be most affected by these changes will be the most marginal," he said.
"The
right to silence is not simply a right that criminals choose ... it's a
right all of us should have under questioning by police."
The
bill was expected to be opposed by the Greens, Labor and the Shooters
and Fishers Party but it ended up being passed 21 votes to 19.
Asked
earlier in the day if he had spoken to the Shooters and Fishers Party,
Mr O'Farrell replied, "I am simply expecting them to respect the powers
the police wanted, powers that could assist in tackling gun crime across
western Sydney".
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione denied the legislation would infringe on a person's basic rights.
"This is simply a matter of trying to level the playing field," he told reporters in Sydney.
The police have always been happy to trample on your rights.
"This
is about making sure that people can't concoct an excuse when they get
to court on the first occasion and try and catch us out by not having
disclosed that previously.
"I don't think it trashes civil liberties."
Opposition
Leader John Robertson called the proposal a "government stunt" and said
if Mr O'Farrell was serious about gun crime he would outlaw bikie
gangs. Wasn't one of the main reasons the government stole our guns was to end gun violence????
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/oppn-slammed-over-nsw-right-to-silence-law/story-e6frfku9-1226601328430#ixzz2PrpCq6rn
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