By Andrew Yuile -
Key decisions
- Vella v Commissioner of Police (NSW) [2019] HCA 38
- Fennell v The Queen [2019] HCA 37
- Lordianto v Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police; Kalimuthu v Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police [2019] HCA 39
- HT v The Queen [2019] HCA 40
Constitutional law
Chapter III – principles from Kable – preventative control orders
In Vella v Commissioner of Police (NSW) [2019] HCA 38 (6 November 2019) a majority of the High Court upheld the validity of s 5(1) of the Crimes (Serious Crime Prevention Orders) Act 2016 (NSW) (‘SCPO Act’). Sections 5 and 6 of the SCPO Act empower the District Court or the Supreme Court of NSW to make ‘civil preventative orders’ that can restrain the liberty of an individual, including without proof of the commission of an offence by that individual.