Orders preventing alleged members of the Rebels motorcycle club from associating would only be imposed to protect the public, Australia’s highest court heard on 6th of August.
Damien Vella, Johnny Vella and Michael Fetui have launched a constitutional challenge against Serious Crime Prevention Orders sought against them by NSW Police in a landmark case that will have enormous ramifications for how agencies combat alleged organised crime.
Police allege the men are Rebels members, with Damien Vella being the acting national president of the club, and the orders are necessary to ‘protect the public’.
The orders would prevent the trio from associating with other bikers, travelling in a vehicle between 9pm and 6am, approaching certain premises, possessing more than one mobile phone or using encryption devices.
On Tuesday, lawyers for the men told the full bench of the High Court of Australia the orders substantially impair the institutional integrity of the NSW Supreme Court.
“The SCPO Act erects in substance an alternative criminal justice regime, significantly more favourable to the State and less favourable to accused persons,” the lawyers stated in a submission to the court.
The orders mirror laws from the UK and can be imposed on a person even if they are acquitted of a serious crime, or the charges are dropped, in circumstances where the court believes an order would protect the public.
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Source: Daily Telegraph