Media Release Friday 6 July 2001 was another tragic day for the NT criminal justice system when Peter O'Brien, a lawyer with North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service (NAALAS) was jailed for doing nothing more then providing effective representation for his 15 year old client. In fact, he was arguing that his client should receive the benefit of the $20 million mandatory sentencing deal struck between the Federal and Territory governments last year. Mr O'Brien was attempting to tell the magistrate Dick Wallace that his client should not have been in court on the charge. In fact, it was meant to have been dealt with by police diversion away from court. Magistrate Wallace did not want to hear from Mr O'Brien and asked how the client was pleading. Mr O'Brien attempted to answer but was repeatedly cut off by the magistrate. Magistrate Wallace then unlawfully directed Mr O'Brien to leave the courtroom. Mr O'Brien refused stating he was not going to leave his client unrepresented. The magistrate then directed the court constable to take Mr O'Brien into custody. Mr O'Brien was not charged with contempt of court, nor could he have been. His time in prison was unlawful. It is a sad day in NT's legal system when a magistrate can jail a NAALAS lawyer whose only crime was representing his client effectively, as any good lawyer would. To avoid a more lengthy period in custody and the possibility of not being able to practice law again, Mr O'Brien was forced to apologise when the magistrate summonsed him back to court. Both Mr O'Brien and his client were left shaken by the whole ordeal. At the end of the day magistrate Wallace adjourned the matter for the reasons Mr O'Brien had raised at the beginning of the day. All those involved in the Australian criminal justice system should see to it that magistrate Dick Wallace and the NT Justice administration are held accountable for this appalling abuse of power. A magistrate who believes he has the power to jail a lawyer for doing his job properly should be sacked immediately. An inquiry into the NT legal system should be convened and an official apology be forthcoming to Mr O'Brien, his client and NAALAS. Justice Action 19 Buckland St, Chippendale, NSW 2008, Australia P.O. Box 386, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: 61-9281-5100 fax: 61-9281-5303 Please log into the Justice Action Web site, designed and sponsored by Breakout Design & Print, exercising good corporate citizenship: http://www.justiceaction.org.au -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
