A law advocacy group has welcomed key recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in its review of press freedom.
Law Council of Australia president, Pauline Wright, said the committee found major reforms are needed to Commonwealth investigatory powers, secrecy offences and public interest disclosure laws to ensure public interest journalism is adequately protected under Australian law.
She says, ‘The Law Council strongly supports the Committee’s key recommendations for special procedures for the issuing of warrants to investigate journalists’.
Warrants
‘The Committee has recommended that superior court judges should be responsible for issuing all such warrants, and that independent public interest advocates should be appointed to contest all of these warrant applications. It also recommended public interest advocates must be retired judges or senior counsel, and that there be a review of all Commonwealth secrecy offences.
‘These recommendations offer a much stronger foundation for the Australian media’.
For more information, visit Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
Support The Echo
Keeping the community together and the community voice loud and clear is what The Echo is about. More than ever we need your help to keep this voice alive and thriving in the community.
Like all businesses we are struggling to keep food on the table of all our local and hard working journalists, artists, sales, delivery and drudges who keep the news coming out to you both in the newspaper and online. If you can spare a few dollars a week – or maybe more – we would appreciate all the support you are able to give to keep the voice of independent, local journalism alive.
Leave a Reply