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The Legality of Manus Island detention under Australian law – The High Court decides in Plaintiff S195
The involvement of Australia in the detention of refugees in Nauru and Papua New Guinea (PNG) raises complex constitutional and international law issues. One of these issues was answered today by the High Court of Australia which unanimously rejected a challenge to the legality of Australia’s arrangements with Papua New Guinea. The case – Plaintiff…
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Is liking something on Facebook ‘protected political speech’?
If you’re a public servant, just liking a post on Facebook or Twitter could be a problem (Picture: Soze Soze/Shutterstock) By Melissa Castan Australians are often surprised to learn that their Constitution contains no right to free speech. Even the right to political speech, which is constitutionally implied, is increasingly complicated by new online platforms…
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The Human Rights Arts & Film Festival – kicking off tonight
By Evelyn Tadros Today marks the beginning of the 10th annual Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, which kicks off in Melbourne before touring around the country over the next month. The festival has grown enormously and become a much anticipated national event since it began as a small grassroots event ten years…
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The Expansion of Ministerial Discretion in Refugee Law
By the Rights Advocacy Project Justice Felix Frankfurter once said that ‘[t]he accretion of dangerous power does not come in a day. It does come, however slowly, from the generative force of unchecked disregard of the restrictions that fence in even the most disinterested assertion of authority’. Justice Frankfurter’s aphorism applies to Australian migration law, where…
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Following the Money: Illuminating the path to justice for global land grabs
BY NATALIE BUGALSKI AND DAVID PRED This year, our organization, Inclusive Development International, launched the Follow the Money initiative – a new tool to fight land grabs and other corporate abuses. It’s a simple idea, but we believe it has the potential to be a game-changer. Every year, more than 15 million people are forcibly…
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Watch our new video on discrimination
By Marius Smith After twelve months of writing, producing and editing, our second series of Have You Got That Right? is completed, and episode 1 has been released. This series will focus on nine topical human rights issues, including self determination, eviction, freedom of expression, bullying and the right to strike. Over the course of this…
Castan Centre for Human Rights Law 