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For the right to silence
Journal article   Peer reviewed

For the right to silence

Shannon Brincat
Dialogue e-Journal, Vol.6(1), pp.1-17
2008
url
https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20080824231512/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/36597/20080825-0002/www.polsis.uq.edu.au/dialogue-e-journal-volume-6-issue-1.htmlView
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Abstract

Political Science Policy and Administration
This article explores some of the changes regarding the right to silence that have flowed from the passage of the so-called 'anti-terror laws', particularly the amendments to the ASIO Act (1979). It finds that the right has been significantly weakened through a number of provisions in the legislation. The writer contends that the judicial protection of the accused, embodied in the right to silence, is fundamental to the workings of an efficient and moral judicial system despite the seemingly overriding imperatives of national security. It argues that the loss of the right to silence neither serves the prosecution of terrorists, nor the bolstering of investigative procedures to apprehend them, but in fact weakens such processes and the democratic basis of the Australian judicial system in the rule of law.

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