The June 2008 edition of the Human Rights Law Resource Centre Bulletin includes:
- An opinion piece from James Welch, the Legal Director of Liberty UK, regarding a ‘Reflections on an Australian Charter of Rights from the UK’
- News about the UN Committee against Torture’s recent review of Australia, announcements by the Federal Government regarding the Disabilities Convention, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and equality for same-sex couples, and an analysis of a recent major UN report on business and human rights
- Updates on the Victorian Charter of Rights, including an analysis of the Statement of Compatibility on the Public Health and Wellbeing Bill 2008
- Updates on other Charters of Rights, including a federal budgetary allocation to a national Charter consultation process and information about proposed amendments to the definition of ‘public authority’ under the UK HRA to capture voluntary and private sector care homes
- Victorian Charter case notes, including in relation to the right to a fair trial and freedom of expression
- Comparative law case notes on significant recent human rights decisions from the European Court of Human Rights (right to a fair hearing, including an oral hearing; procedural safeguards against eviction), the UK courts (procedural and substantive obligations arising from the right to life; right to privacy for children), the South African Constitutional Court (conditions of detention of remand prisoners) and the ACT Supreme Court (rights of children and families)
- Information about the Centre’s policy work, including the Centre’s major contribution to the Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Australia by the UN Committee against Torture, and a summary of our submission on the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act Review Options Paper
- Updates on the Centre’s casework and litigation, including successfully invoking the Charter to prevent the eviction of a family into homelessness
- Details of forthcoming human rights seminars and events
- Information about useful human rights resources, including recent additions to the Centre’s website
- Human rights jobs with the Alternative Law Journal
- Updates on human rights at the UN from our foreign correspondent in Geneva, Claire Mahon
- ‘If I were Attorney-General’ by Larissa Behrendt, Professor of Law and Director of Research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology
