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ALS calls for immediate action following LECC report
Urgent action is needed to mitigate a “systemic problem” of police interviewing vulnerable people against their accepted legal advice, according to one legal body.
Lauren Croft
The Aboriginal Legal Service has called on NSW Police and the Attorney-General to take “urgent action” after children under 18 and other vulnerable people were interviewed against legal advice.
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Under NSW law, “vulnerable persons” include children under 18, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and other groups, including the elderly.
Nadine Miles, principal legal officer at the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) (ALS), said that police had coerced people in these groups into participating in police interviews without a lawyer present.
“An accused person’s right to silence is a fundamental principle of Australian law, yet legal services have seen police coercing Aboriginal children as young as 10 to participate in interviews against legal advice,” she said.
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s (LECC) Operation Mantus report was tabled in NSW Parliament in early December, delivering 19 recommendations. The ALS gave extensive evidence to the investigation in public and private hearings and is pleased that its feedback was reflected in the final recommendations.
One important recommendation calls for the Attorney-General to change regulations so that police must assist vulnerable people in obtaining further legal advice if they appear to change their mind about an interview. This recommendation – in addition to others – was made in response to complaints from bodies including the ALS, Legal Aid NSW, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the courts regarding improper police practices, including promising bail as a strategy to encourage children in custody to participate in interviews against their legal advice.
“We are calling on the Attorney-General to urgently act on this recommendation so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under arrest, including children, have further access to the ALS Custody Notification Service if they are at risk of being interviewed against legal advice,” Ms Miles added.
Further, the ALS Custody Notification Service was described by the LECC as “of fundamental importance to the criminal justice system in this state”. NSW Police is required by law to notify the service, which operates 24/7, whenever they take an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person into custody.
The ALS is also calling on the NSW Police Force to urgently implement all recommendations made by the LECC report.
