Sunny OZschwitz gulag: ICAC expanded powers worry lawyers

A PLAN to allow evidence obtained by the Independent Commission Against Corruption to be used in criminal actions has run into stiff opposition over the potential erosion of legal rights.

The NSW Bar Association, the Law Society and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre oppose the idea, the Bar Association saying that the expanded powers would "become an instrument of oppression".

Those summonsed to ICAC hearings are compelled to give evidence, even if it is self-incriminating, the trade-off being that this evidence cannot be used in subsequent legal proceedings. Protection from giving self-incriminating evidence is a tenet of the legal system.

ICAC wants this right to be set aside in cases where it seeks to obtain proceeds from the corrupt practices of public servants called before it.

"Should this occur, it is easy to see how quickly this state investigative agency will become an instrument of oppression," the NSW Bar Association president, Anna Katzmann, said in a submission to a State Government inquiry into the issue.

"The proposal would effectively turn ICAC into a forum for obtaining evidence for criminal trials by compulsion. Presumably, other investigative authorities would follow suit."

Further, "diluting the immunity" would potentially defeat the main purpose of ICAC investigations because it might inhibit witnesses from being honest or co-operative, the association argued.

"If rooting out systemic corruption is a principal object of ICAC, then there is little justification for making that task any more difficult than it already is," Ms Katzmann said.

Peter McGhee of the Law Society told the inquiry yesterday: "These proposed amendments cast the net far wider than … would be procedurally fair."

Natasha Case of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre said it was concerned about the proposed changes, especially the likelihood that they could extend to other government agencies. Ms Case said covert search-warrant powers, introduced initially for anti-terrorism cases, might extend to a range of minor criminal offences.

The centre conceded the proposed changes might be worth supporting in disciplinary cases, a distinction also supported by a barrister, Bruce McClintock, in a submission to the inquiry, but he was wary about supporting broader change.

The chairman of the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission, Robert Needham, told the inquiry yesterday: "It is quite incongruous a public servant could admit to improper activities and it not be used against them … unless you can provide independent evidence."

A barrister, Alan Robertson, said the issue was balancing fairness with the public importance of rooting out corruption. "In my view, I'd err on the side of caution," he told the inquiry.

LNK

Sunny OZschwitz gulag: ICAC expanded powers worry lawyers

Sunny OZschwitz gulag: ICAC expanded powers worry lawyers

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