JURIST - Paper Chase: Australian senators call for changes to proposed anti-terror law

[JURIST] Senators in the Parliament of Australia [official website] tabled a report [text; additional materials] Monday recommending changes to proposed anti-terror laws [JURIST report; initial draft, PDF]. The current proposal permits suspects to be detained up to 14 days without charge and imposes controls on suspects, including electronic shackles. The report from the Senate's Legal and Constitutional Committee [official website] follows hearings on the bill and calls for the removal of the sedition section of the laws and seeks to shorten the sunset provision from 10 years to 5 years. The report also recommends that the Australian attorney general provide a twice-yearly report on preventative detention [JURIST report], that police undergo training to avoid racial profiling, and that limits be placed on the ability of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization [official website] to extend the time limit on search warrants. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock [official profile] has said he believed the sedition provisions should remain and that the sunset provisions were non-negotiable, but that he would discuss the other provisions with the Prime Minister, cabinet colleagues, and his backbench committee. AAP has more.

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