by Chris Merritt | Oct 3, 2024 | Chris Merritt, Commentary, Freedom of Speech, Media Article, Rule of Law Issue
Those who failed to enforce the law against terrorist sympathisers in Sydney and Melbourne over the weekend have some explaining to do. Why did they permit supporters of Hezbollah in Sydney and Melbourne to defy federal law with impunity? Was it simple ignorance about...
by Chris Merritt | Sep 27, 2024 | Chris Merritt, Commentary, Freedom of Speech, Media Article
Fifteen years ago, American lawyer Ilya Shapiro wrote a concise and devastating critique of vague statutes. It must have been missed by those who drafted the latest version of the federal government’s plan to outlaw the online dissemination of misinformation and...
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 | Sep 6, 2024 | Chris Merritt, Commentary, Media Article, Rule of Law Issue
After each election, new members of federal parliament are given a briefing about the workings of the nation’s peak law making body. Recent events have made it clear that these briefings need to spend more time spelling out the difference between arbitrary rule and...
by Chris Merritt | Aug 29, 2024 | Chris Merritt, Commentary, Media Article, Rule of Law Issue, The Voice: Uluru Statement
Denying reality never ends well. Sooner or later someone comes along who punctures fashionable delusions. Hans Christian Anderson made this clear in his fairytale about The Emperor’s new Clothes. And almost two centuries later, exactly the same point has been made by...
by Chris Merritt | Aug 22, 2024 | Chris Merritt, Commentary, Media Article, Rule of Law Issue
Amul Thapar, who is on a speaking tour of Australia, is already one of America’s most senior judges. But if Donald Trump wins November’s presidential election, this son of Indian immigrants might he heading for the US Supreme Court.Thapar currently serves as a judge...
