Next week, on Wednesday 27
February 2013 the High Court of Australia will deliver two judgments in cases
that consider the scope of the implied freedom of communication.
The first is Attorney-General
for the State of South Australia v Corporation of the City of Adelaide which raises the validity of a local government
by-law prohibiting preaching, canvassing or haranguing or the distribution of
leaflets in Rundle Mall, and in particular whether the by-law contravenes any
constitutionally-implied freedom of communication.
The second is Monis v The Queen in which the NSW Court of Criminal
Appeal held that the offence of using a postal service to menace, harass or
cause offence (section 471.12 of the Commonwealth’s Criminal Code), does
not infringe upon the implied constitutional freedom of political
communication. The Court held that the while the law effectively burdens the
freedom, it does so in a way that is consistent with the maintenance of the
system of government prescribed by the Constitution.
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