4424

2004

 

The Parliament of the

Commonwealth of Australia

 

THE SENATE

 

 

 

 

National Security Information (Criminal Proceedings) Bill 2004

 

 

(Amendments to be moved by Senator Brown on behalf of the Australian Greens in committee of the whole)

 

 

(1)     Clause 25, page 16 (line 3), omit subclause (4).

[closed hearings]

(2)     Clause 27, page 20 (line 31), omit subclause (5).

[closed hearings]

(3)     Clause 28, page 22 (line 6), omit subclause (7).

[closed hearings]

(4)     Clause 29, page 24 (after line 21), at the end of the clause, add:

             (6)  It is a requirement of a closed hearing that a court notify in open court at a time proximate to a closed hearing the reason or reasons for holding the closed hearing.

[reasons required for closed hearing]

(5)     Clause 31, page 27 (after line 6), at the end of the clause, add:

             (9)  Where a court makes an order permitting information to be disclosed as being subject to the Attorney-General’s non-disclosure certificate, the court must be satisfied that the amended document or substitution document to be adduced as evidence would provide the defendant with substantially the same ability to make his or her defence as would disclosure of the source document.

[defendant entitled equal evidentiary value of substitute documents]

(6)     Page 32 (after line 15), at the end of Part 4, add:

39A  Court orders in relation to security clearances

             (1)  It is within the competence of a court in considering all the circumstances of a case, to determine whether a defendant’s legal representative requires a security clearance before he or she can access information, and a court may so order.

             (2)  A court may order that specified material not be disclosed to a defendant’s legal representative unless he or she holds a security clearance at a specified level.

[court discretion/orders re security clearances]

(7)     Clause 31, page 27 (lines 5 and 6), omit subclause (8).

[court weighting]