ABC News Tue, 24 Aug 1999 10:36 AEST Brown to try and outlaw mandatory sentencing of juveniles Greens Senator Bob Brown will introduce legislation in the Senate today to outlaw mandatory sentencing for juveniles in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The Bill will prevent any state or territory government from requiring the courts to imprison a child. The legislation will be introduced on the basis that mandatory sentencing of juveniles breaches the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Senator Brown says the Bill has the support of the Labor Party but will need the backing of the Liberal Government. "This is basically a move at the federal level because the West Australian and Northern Territory Governments have determined they are not going to change their laws," Senator Brown said. "We have to get the Howard Government on side because otherwise this legislation which might get through the Senate won't get through the House of Reps." The Democrats are meeting to finalise their support for the Bill. Meanwhile, the Northern Territory Council of Churches says it supports the proposed Senate Bill that will outlaw mandatory sentencing for juveniles. The council says on moral and democratic grounds it is opposed to the mandatory sentencing of 15 and 16-year-olds and has urged all Senators to support the Bill. It says such imprisonment is also a breach of Australia's international human rights obligations. � 1999 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/
