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Chapter 1 - Introduction
Background
1.1
On 16 June 2004, the Senate referred the provisions of
the National Security Information (Criminal Proceedings) Bill 2004 (the Bill) and
the National Security Information (Security Proceedings) (Consequential
Amendments) Bill 2004 (the Consequential Amendments Bill) to the Senate Legal
and Constitutional Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 19 August
2004.
Purpose of the Bill
1.2
The stated objective of the Bill
is to prevent the disclosure of information in Federal criminal proceedings
where the disclosure is likely to prejudice national security, except to the
extent that preventing the disclosure would seriously interfere with the
administration of justice.[1]
1.3
The Consequential Amendments Bill amends the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review)
Act 1977 (ADJR Act) and the Judiciary
Act 1903 to include a certificate decision of the Attorney-General as a
related criminal justice process decision.
1.4
The report is concerned predominantly with examining the
provisions of the Bill.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.5
The Committee advertised the inquiry in The Australian
newspaper on 30 June 2004
and invited submissions by 2 July 2004.
Details of the inquiry, the bills and related documentation were placed on the Committee's
website. The Committee also wrote to over 100 individuals and organisations.
1.6
The Committee received
23 submissions which are listed at Appendix 1. Submissions were placed on the
Committee's website for ease of access by the public.
1.7
The Committee held a
public hearing in Sydney
on 5 July 2004. A list of
witnesses who appeared at the hearing is at Appendix 2 and copies of the
Hansard transcript are available through the Internet at: http://aph.gov.au/hansard.
Acknowledgment
1.8
The Committee is
grateful to, and wishes to thank, all those who assisted in its inquiry.
Note on references
1.9
References in this report are to individual submissions
as received by the Committee, not to a bound volume. References to the
Committee Hansard are to the proof Hansard: page numbers may vary between the
proof and the official Hansard transcript.
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