08 October 2009Quite apart from their potential for misuse, they are corrosive of core legal values, writes Andrew Lynch in The Australian

LAST WEEK, members of the Finks motorcycle club successfully challenged the constitutionality of South Australia's so called anti-bikie law. Although hailed as a major victory for civil liberties, the reasons underlying the 2:1 decision by the Supreme Court of South Australia are more complex. The significance of the case for similar laws in other states, and preventative legal measures generally, merits careful assessment.

In Totani v South Australia, Justices Bleby and Kelly ruled section 14(1) of the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008 invalid. Under section 14(1), the South Australian Magistrates Court must make a control order against a person if satisfied that he or she is a member of a declared organisation. The order would impose restrictions upon the individual's freedom to associate with other members.

The power to declare an organisation is placed in the hands of the state attorney-general who receives secret police evidence for the purpose. This material is not to be disclosed if classified by the police commissioner as criminal intelligence...

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Andrew Lynch is director of the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law at the University of NSW

Photo: Ed Hidden/ iStockphoto