In recent times the Queensland parliament has taken a strict stance and vowed to crackdown on organised crime. This approached was essentially triggered after public outrage regarding the infamous Broadbeach bikie brawl that occurred on 27 September 2013.

That incident saw 18 members of the then Bandidos pleading guilty to charges including riot, affray, public nuisance and assault and obstruct police. All persons charged either received wholly suspended jail sentences, fines and in one case a good behaviour bond.

The government’s approach to deal with the types of incidents described above was to introduce the Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act 2013 (“the VLAD Act”). Since that time there has been much talk regarding the utility of this legislation and whether it truly serves the purpose it intended.

In recent weeks the parliament implemented a further bill, the Serious and Organised Crime Legislation Amendment Bill (“the Bill“), which is designed to replace the original VLAD legislation. Whilst it could be said that the Bill is a positive step forward as it will ensure that the VLAD Act (which has been described as unfair, unconstitutional and overly onerous), is repealed, there are still some concerning features evident in the bill that could impinge on the general public’s civil liberties.

Specifically:

• Police may apply to have a premises declared as a restricted premises if they reasonably suspect disorderly activity.  If this declaration is made the police may then undertake unlimited searches without a search warrant for a period of two years.  During these searches they may seize any personal property and have that forfeited to the state.
• Consorting could also become a potential offence.  The Bill provides that it will be a misdemeanour (i.e. an indictable offence) for a person to consort with two recognised offenders after having been given an official warning by police with respect to each of those individuals.  This would make it illegal to associate with anyone who has a criminal history containing an offence which has a maximum penalty of five years.The offence carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment or 300 penalty units, or both.To facilitate the issuing of the official warning for the offence, a police officer will have the power to stop and detain a person and to require them to provide their name, date of birth and address and in some circumstances their identifying particulars.  This can undoubtedly be viewed as breaching a person’s right to personal liberty, rights to privacy and their common law right to silence.

The need to protect the community whilst not impinging upon the general public’s rights seems to continue to be an ongoing difficulty and issue for the parliament.

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This article is for your information and interest only. It is not intended to be comprehensive, and it does not constitute and must not be relied on as legal advice. You must seek specific advice tailored to your circumstances.