David Hicks’ defence lawyer special guest speaker

Dec 18, 2006

Three public forums on the theme of ‘The Protection of the Law’– including a presentation by detainee David Hicks’ defence lawyer Major Michael Mori – were a special feature of the Australasian Law and Society Conference held at the University of Wollongong last week (13 to 15 December).

Major Michael Mori from the United States Marine Corps who is David Hicks’ defence lawyer delivered a presentation entitled “Legal Protection in the ‘War on Terror’ – Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions and David Hicks”.

David Hicks detention in Guantanamo Bay since December 2001 has raised broad concerns about the balance between national security and legal protection in the context of the “war on terror”.

Major Mori reflected on the law’s capacity to protect due process and principles of fairness in a national and international political environment where the appropriate balance between ‘rights’ and ‘security’ is deeply contested. The lecture was then followed by a question and answer session.

There were also two other public forums, the first of which was entitled “Who Are We?: How Law Constructs Identity". It examined such questions as: Who is Australian and who decides? How does the law affect who is part of the Australian community and who is excluded from that group?

Among those participating in the first forum was Saeb Ali from the Illawarra Lebanese Muslim community, Barbara Nicholson a Wadi Wadi elder and Senior Honorary Fellow in the Faculty of Law; Mark Nolan from the Australian National University (ANU) College of Law and Kim Rubenstein who is Director of the Centre for International and Public Law at ANU.

The second public forum was entitled “Protection from Law”. It posed questions such as: Do we need protection from law when unionists in Western Australia are being sued and may lose their homes; when Australians involved in political campaigns may be put under surveillance or held in secret custody without charge; when powerful interests and multinational corporations sue activists to frighten them into silence; and when Indigenous Australians continue to die in custody without any redress.

Among those participating in the second forum were Indigenous rights activist, Ray Jackson; public interest lawyer, Greg Ogle; South Coast Labour Council Secretary, Arthur Rorris; community lawyer, Marika Dias; veteran campaigner for prisoners’ rights, Wendy Bacon and Associate Professor Brian Martin from UOW who led a discussion on practical action to support people intimidated by unjust laws and powerful interests.

The conference was hosted by UOW’s Legal Intersections Research Centre and the Faculty of Law.