*Ø* Blogmanac | Hicks, Habib lawyers angered by Latham's retrospective law proposal
Reporter: Hamish Fitzsimmons
"MARK COLVIN: Lawyers for the two Australian citizens being held at Guantanamo Bay are furious at Mark Latham's [Leader of the Opposition] proposal to change laws retrospectively so David Hicks and Mamdou Habib could be tried at home. Both lawyers say that such a move should worry every Australian. One even describes it as a move towards totalitarianism.
"And as for the legality of Mr Latham's proposal, constitutional experts say any retrospective law change would be fraught with danger.
"Hamish Fitzsimmons reports.
"HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: You'd expect the people fighting to have Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks returned to Australia would welcome any means to see that done.
"But Mark Latham's offer of Labor's support to the Government to change the terrorism laws to allow the men to be tried in Australia, has been attacked by the lawyers as unconstitutional.
"Mamdouh Habib's lawyer Stephen Hopper.
"STEPHEN HOPPER: The retrospective application of laws is an abhorrent concept and something that the Western legal system has resisted in the last few hundred years, and the reason being is that someone should know that they're committing a crime or going to commit a crime, because the laws are publicly stated.
"Now if someone's gone and done an activity that wasn't against the law at a certain time and later on a law's brought in to make that activity illegal, I think there's something fundamentally wrong. To convict someone of a crime they must have the mental element that they've committed a crime.
"Now, if they went there thinking they were obeying all Australian laws when they were engaging in some activity, and later on they're told they were breaking the law because it's some law made later on, I think it's a step backwards and a step towards totalitarianism.
"HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: The Federal Government says the men can't be returned to Australia because terrorism legislation here is not retrospective and they could not be charged.
But David Hicks's lawyer, Stephen Kenny is equally critical of the proposal to make laws retrospective ..."
Source: ABC Oz
Reporter: Hamish Fitzsimmons
"MARK COLVIN: Lawyers for the two Australian citizens being held at Guantanamo Bay are furious at Mark Latham's [Leader of the Opposition] proposal to change laws retrospectively so David Hicks and Mamdou Habib could be tried at home. Both lawyers say that such a move should worry every Australian. One even describes it as a move towards totalitarianism.
"And as for the legality of Mr Latham's proposal, constitutional experts say any retrospective law change would be fraught with danger.
"Hamish Fitzsimmons reports.
"HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: You'd expect the people fighting to have Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks returned to Australia would welcome any means to see that done.
"But Mark Latham's offer of Labor's support to the Government to change the terrorism laws to allow the men to be tried in Australia, has been attacked by the lawyers as unconstitutional.
"Mamdouh Habib's lawyer Stephen Hopper.
"STEPHEN HOPPER: The retrospective application of laws is an abhorrent concept and something that the Western legal system has resisted in the last few hundred years, and the reason being is that someone should know that they're committing a crime or going to commit a crime, because the laws are publicly stated.
"Now if someone's gone and done an activity that wasn't against the law at a certain time and later on a law's brought in to make that activity illegal, I think there's something fundamentally wrong. To convict someone of a crime they must have the mental element that they've committed a crime.
"Now, if they went there thinking they were obeying all Australian laws when they were engaging in some activity, and later on they're told they were breaking the law because it's some law made later on, I think it's a step backwards and a step towards totalitarianism.
"HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: The Federal Government says the men can't be returned to Australia because terrorism legislation here is not retrospective and they could not be charged.
But David Hicks's lawyer, Stephen Kenny is equally critical of the proposal to make laws retrospective ..."
Source: ABC Oz
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