Law boss: anti-bikie laws ripe for legal challenges
With new legislation on the way from the Victorian government, the state's peak law body says it could lead to a legal minefieldIn a recent report on www.heraldsun.com.au, it’s claimed the Victorian government's soon-to-be-unveiled anti-bikie laws could lead to costly and embarrassing legal challenges.
The Law Institute of Victoria president, Michael Holcroft, said that “proscribing gangs as criminal entities had been difficult and expensive”.
“Effectively you will have to prove they are criminal organisations,'” Holcroft was quoted as saying in on www.heraldsun.com.au. “The Baillieu legislation is trying to create guilt by association. It's very difficult. I don't know whether it's worth the effort.
“Every business owner and most clubs take steps to secure their assets. The first proscribed bikie entity will be off to the High Court. If the Government gets it wrong, yes, it will be expensive.
“They've probably painted themselves into a corner. The consequences of getting it wrong will be very public.”
Holgate said the Crimes Act (1958) allowed authorities to seize assets and profits of crime.
The Victorian government has hit back, and took at swipe at Holcroft for commenting before the draft legislation had even been released.
Only last year, the Bikesales Network reported that a member of the Hells Angel had taken his case against the Criminal Organisations Control Act in NSW to the nation’s highest judicial post and won. And similar laws in South Australia have also been met with the same fate.
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