ALRC to consider flexibility, formality and cost of Royal Commissions
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) welcomed the announcement today by the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, of new Terms of Reference for the ALRC to review the Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth) and related issues. The Terms of Reference ask the ALRC to focus on a number of matters, including: whether there …
News/Media Release
Read moreTerms of Reference
Review of the Royal Commissions Act 1902 and related Issues I, ROBERT McCLELLAND, Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, having regard to the need to ensure that the executive government has available to it forms of inquiry on matters of public importance which are effective and efficient in the context of contemporary requirements, refer to …
Inquiries
Read moreALRC to tackle government secrecy laws
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) welcomed the announcement today by the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, of new Terms of Reference for the ALRC to review secrecy provisions in federal legislation. The Terms of Reference ask the ALRC to focus on: ‘the importance of balancing the need to protect Commonwealth information and …
News/Media Release
Read morePrivilege in Perspective: Client Legal Privilege in Federal Investigations (ALRC Report 107)
ALRC Report 107 (tabled 13 February 2008) is the final report of the ALRC’s Client Legal Privilege Inquiry.The ALRC’s research identified over 40 federal bodies with coercive information-gathering powers (as well as Royal Commissions established from time to time) and many more than 40 statutes that addressed the powers of these bodies. Many of these …
Publications
Read moreLawyer–client relationships put under ALRC microscope
Thursday, 30 November 2006: The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) says its new review of legal professional privilege could have a major impact on the way clients and lawyers will interact in future. The ALRC inquiry will concentrate on the application of legal professional privilege to the coercive information gathering powers of Commonwealth bodies—such as …
News/Media Release
Read moreClient legal privilege in federal investigations
In this Inquiry, the ALRC examined the application of client legal privilege (also known as legal professional privilege) within the context of federal investigations.The Inquiry was announced as part of the Australian Government’s response to the Royal Commission that investigated the conduct of the Australian Wheat Board in relation to the United Nations ‘Oil for …
Inquiries
Read moreKeeping Secrets: The Protection of Classified and Security Sensitive Information (ALRC Report 98)
ALRC Report 98 was tabled in federal Parliament on 23 June 2004. This inquiry examined measures to safeguard classified and security sensitive information during court or tribunal proceedings, or in the course of other investigations—including those relating to criminal prosecutions, civil suits, immigration matters or freedom of information applications.View ALRC Report 98 in HTML on the …
Publications
Read moreProtection of Classified and Security Sensitive Information
This inquiry, which began in April 2003, examined measures to safeguard classified and security sensitive information during court or tribunal proceedings, or in the course of other investigations—including those relating to criminal prosecutions, civil suits, immigration matters or freedom of information applications.Cases involving espionage, terrorism and the leaking or misuse of national security information have …
Inquiries
Read moreReview of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987
The fundamental principle of confiscation legislation is that people who engage in unlawful activity should not profit from breaking the laws of society. Money or property gained from such activity should be confiscated, to prevent the reinvestment of that profit into further illegal acts. The ALRC’s review of Australia’s confiscation regime found that groundbreaking proceeds …
Inquiries
Read moreConfiscation that Counts: A Review of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987 (ALRC Report 87)
Final Report, ALRC Report 89, was tabled June 1999. The ALRC’s review of Australia’s confiscation regime found that groundbreaking proceeds of crime legislation—introduced in 1987, and designed to strike at the heart of organised crime by attacking the profit motive—had become largely ineffective.ALRC Report 89 advocates a sharp shift in Australia’s approach to federal assets …
Publications
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