The Problems in The Current Criminal Justice System in Regar
This morning more than 20,000 Australians will wake up in a prison cell. What will their day bring?In Australia a person over the age of 18 who offends or who is apprehended for allegedly doing so, is dealt with in the adult criminal justice system.Once convicted the prisoner can be jailed and is generally forgotten about by the general population.Prisoner rights, conditions access to health safety etc. are mostly in conflict with administration policies, which give administration discretion and convenience overriding importance in prison administration.The Issue and History of Prisoner Rights.Prisoner rights were a late developing chapter in the evolution of human rights philosophy. The expression of such concepts can be found in the twentieth century human rights documents rather than common law.The early documents setting out rights and liberties dealt mainly with the issues of rights at the point of entry into custody, including "excessive bail ought not to be required not excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted"(Bill of Rights 1689 England)It is only in later human rights documents that concepts of rights of access to proper care medical treatment for all c
The High Court has held that prison regulation do not confer on prisoners (Flyn v R (1949)79CLR1) This interpretation was adopted partly for policy reasons for it statues dealing with this subject matter were construed as intending to confer fixed legal rights upon prisoners it would result in applications to courts by prisoners for legal remedies addressed either to the Crown or gaolers in whose custody they remain. Even if the State Parliments were subject to ICCPR, the ICCPR are accompanied by qualifying phrases which permit the derogation of rights if they are "prescribed by law" (Article 18) or imposed in conformity wit the law (Article 21)The State Parliments have extraordinarily wide constitutional powers to legislate for example for peace, welfare, and good government! even, where such legislation impinges upon access to courts. (Australian Law Reform Commission 1980,page 144) One lamentable aspect of public attitude towards prisoners and their rights has been well expressed by the late Victorian Supreme Court Judge Sir John Barry"The prescription that the criminal should receive a dose of his own medicine has always possessed a dreadful attractiveness"The public image of prison as a place of degradation where it still right and proper that inmates should be repressed is still strong in the public mind. They can also be found in judgments of British (R v Board of visitors of Hull: ex parte St Germain (1979) 2wlr 42) and US (coffin v Reichardt 143 f2d 443(6th Cir 1944)) courtsUnfortunately prisoner's attempts to define these residual rights through litigation relying on either the English and US Bill of rights have been largely unsuccessful. This is because the Human rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act of 1986 Commonwealth can and does only oblige the Commonwealth Judgement to observe human right standards in areas of Commonwealth powers. In the middle ground are cases and reports of inquiries that stress, that while persons who are prisoners have lost their right to liberty, nevertheless keep residual civil rights. Recently the NSW Premier Mr Carr attempted to remove prisoners as a category from the NSW Victims compensation Scheme. As we all know Australia was settled by the British who transported tens of thousands of English, Irish and Scottish prisoners to Australia to alleviate the over-crowded prisons in Briton. (Flynn vR (1949)79clr1 per Dixon J at 8) . Rights, any rights does not really exist unless there enforceable remedies. What for instance enforceable rights exist in international or domestic law for prisoners with HIV/AIDS?Rights relating to prisoners are included in the UN International Covenant on Civil and political Rights (ICCPR). Today the story is different many Australians debates about rights these days seem more concerned about the immediate needs of political parties than universal principles developed by the international community. However, they were glorified by the masses, maybe because they were almost always kind to local poor. However, there is no legislation creating jurisdiction offences and penalties for breaches of prisoners' rights.
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