The February 2009 edition of the Human Rights Law Resource Centre Bulletin includes:
- An opinion piece by Rachel Ball of the Human Rights Law Resource Centre on ‘A New Vision for Equality’
- News about a proposed project to promote disability rights and ratification of the UN Disability Convention in the Pacific, and an analysis of the non-evacuation of prisoners from the Melbourne Custody Centre following a bomb threat
- Updates on a National Charters of Rights, including information about the National Human Rights Consultation and online resources prepared by the Centre to assist individuals and organizations to engage with the consultation
- Updates on the Victorian Charter of Rights, including an opinion piece on the first two years of the Charter, a series of case studies released by the Centre on how the Charter is being used to address disadvantage and promote dignity, an analysis of recent Statements of Compatibility, and details of Charter training sessions run by the VEOHRC
- Victorian Charter case notes, including in relation to the right to a fair hearing (VCAT) and to the presumption of innocence and the privilege against self-incrimination (Supreme Court)
[Note: All Victorian case notes published in the Bulletin are also published on the Centre's searchable database within 5 days of publication of the Bulletin] - Comparative law case notes on significant recent human rights decisions from the UK (mandatory life sentences and the prohibition of ill-treatment) and the European Court of Human Rights (right to life and the use of force by police; balancing the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy; and freedom of expression and restrictions on political advertising)
[Note: All comparative case notes published in the Bulletin are also published on the Centre's searchable database within 5 days of publication of the Bulletin] - Information about the Centre’s policy work, including in relation to the Centre’s submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights regarding the right to equality, proposed amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act, ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and draft Model Spent Convictions legislation for Australia
- Updates on the Centre’s casework and litigation, including in relation to the use of police move-on powers
- Details of forthcoming human rights seminars and events, including a major HRLRC seminar on 2 March 2009 with Carroll Bogert, Associate Director of Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s leading human rights organisations
- Information about useful human rights resources, including new articles on the HRLRC website
- Human rights jobs, including a job as volunteer Campaign Coordinator for the Australian Human Rights Group
- Updates on the UN’s approach to human rights and climate change from our foreign correspondent in Geneva, Simon Levett (an Australian human rights lawyer working with the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing and the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights) (Our regular foreign correspondent, Claire Mahon, will return next month)
- ‘If I were Attorney-General’ by Mark Moshinsky SC, a barrister at the Victorian Bar specialising in constitutional and administrative law and former Secretary of Liberty Victoria
