(DOWNLOAD) "Law, War and Liberty: The World war II Subversion Prosecutions (Australia)" by Melbourne University Law Review * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Law, War and Liberty: The World war II Subversion Prosecutions (Australia)
- Author : Melbourne University Law Review
- Release Date : January 01, 2003
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 422 KB
Description
[This, article examines one manifestation of the uneasy status of civil liberties in times of war--the prosecution of anti-war activists for offences under regulations made under the National Security Act 1939 (Cth). It argues that these prosecutions were characterised by both repression and restraint. Repression was reflected in the breadth of the anti-subversion regulations (which, interpreted literally, made advocacy of almost anything illegal), in occasional prosecutions for trivial offences which bore no relationship to the efficient conduct of the war, in disproportionately severe sentences (in Western Australia) and in judicial interpretations of the regulations which did little to limit their possible abuse. Restraint manifested itself in the rarity of prosecutions, in the rigorous filtering process applied by the Commonwealth Attorney-Generals Department, in occasional magisterial and judicial assertions of the need to construe legislation in the spirit of liberalism, and in sentences which (except in Western Australia) tended to be proportionate to the offence and were normally non-custodial. Repression is explained in terms of opportunity and political pressure. Restraint is explained in terms of lingering civil libertarianism on the part of some members of the government, along with the need to avoid alienating the government's 'loyal opponents' by steps likely to be treated as manifesting anti-leftism, as opposed to anti-subversion. The article concludes with an assessment of the implications of this analysis, arguing that it casts doubt on the practicality of and need for, anti-subversion laws. Where opposition to war is widespread, anti-subversion prosecutions may be both impracticable and counterproductive. Where opposition is limited, prosecutions are unnecessary.] I INTRODUCTION