by Chris Merritt | Sep 13, 2024 | 18C, Attorney General, Chris Merritt, Commentary, Freedom of Speech, Media Article
Mark Dreyfus has taken a big step in the right direction with federal hate-speech laws that target the most serious threat confronting the Jewish community. And he has done so while avoiding over-reach and eliminating a get-out-of-jail card for hate preachers that...
by Chris Merritt | Jul 25, 2024 | Chris Merritt, Freedom of Speech, Media Article, Rule of Law Issue
Back in March, when the federal government established an inquiry into civics education, it tweaked the terms of reference in a way some might consider to be just a little too clever. Four months earlier, a wave of concern about censorship of the internet caused the...
by Chris Merritt | Jun 21, 2024 | Chris Merritt, Commentary, Freedom of Speech, Media Article, Rule of Law Issue
With impeccable timing, Walter Sofronoff KC has blown the whistle on “narcissists and zealots” who he believes are threatening the rule of law. Sofronoff, who is a former president of the Queensland Court of Appeal, did not name anyone. That left his audience at a...
by Chris Merritt | May 23, 2024 | Chris Merritt, Commentary, Freedom of Speech, Media Article, Rule of Law Issue
Last Friday, when the leaders of the legal profession assembled in Sydney’s Banco Court, they were marking one of the great turning points in the struggle for power in early Australia. Officially, they were there to mark the bicentenary of the NSW Supreme Court and...
by Chris Merritt | May 16, 2024 | Chris Merritt, Commentary, Freedom of Speech, ICAC, Media Article, Rule of Law Issue
The decision to subject Walter Sofronoff, KC, to a corruption inquiry raises issues of principle that do not reflect favourably on the government of the ACT. The core of the problem relates to the erosion of one of the great principles of the rule of law – equal...
