Australian law groups urge Coalition to pressure Nauru over growing legal crisis
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Version 0 of 1. Australia’s peak legal bodies have called on the federal government to intervene in the growing legal crisis on Nauru after a senior Australian lawyer scheduled to appear for asylum seekers on the island was denied a visa. Jay Williams, a barrister, was denied a visa by the Nauru government shortly before he was scheduled to appear in two cases on the island, one of which could see the president, Baron Waqa, and the justice minister, David Adeang, face contempt of court charges. The second case relates to the lawfulness of the detention of more than 1,000 asylum seekers at the Australian-run detention centre on the island. The visa decision is being challenged in a fresh judicial review, where it is being argued that the Nauruan justice secretary “exercised power for an improper purpose” in an attempt to “pervert the course of justice”. The Australian Bar Association president, Fiona McLeod, said the asylum seekers held in detention were still in Australia’s care, and should be afforded proper legal representation. “These recent developments are most concerning,” she said. “They indicate a continued pattern by the Nauru government of failing to observe the rule of law, which commenced with the sacking of magistrate Peter Law and their failure to renew the visa of the chief justice, Geoffrey Eames, over a year ago. “It’s vital that clients, including those placed in the care of the Australian government, have access to legal representation, and the Australian Bar Association would urge the Australian government to intervene to ensure that this occurs.” The president of the Australian section of the international commission of jurists, John Boyd, also called on the government to place pressure on Nauru to allow Williams to enter the country. “The Australian government should bring pressure to bear to allow a visa to be granted for Mr Williams to have access to the court,” he said. “Australia has a duty of care in respect of these people and neither the Australian government nor the Nauruan government should be scared of the rule of law.” Major concerns about the state of democracy on Nauru continued to be raised by opposition MPs and human rights groups. Recently the government also blocked access to Facebook and other websites, and deported the general manager of telecommunications provider Digicell. The Nauru government has continued to object to concerns about the island, and has rejected criticism of the nation. |