Joseph Craig
Last week, the South Australian legal body showed their concern on human rights by submitting four critical bills that may help solve problems faced by most vulnerable South Australian residents. This took place after the South Australian Parliament resumed its duties.
The Law Society of South Australia said that they were pleased to learn that the Bill to establish a Children’s Commissioner was passed at the Lower House after they had made a submission regarding the same. In addition, the South Australian legal body said that they had summarised their views on the Bill and other significant Bills that were presented to parliament.
The submissions that were presented before parliament by the legal body include the following: the Sentencing Bill 2016, the Births, Deaths and Marriages (Gender Identity) Amendment Bill 2016, the Criminal Law Consolidation (Mental Impairment) Amendment Bill 2016, and the Protection and Wellbeing of Young People and Children (Advocacy and Oversight Commissions) Bill 2016.
The South Australian law society believes the legislation that checks on offenders in South Australia should be reformed as stated in the Sentencing Bill 2016.
According to the Law Society, this bill is a great step towards ensuring that every SA resident get equal rights.
The Law Society stated that the Criminal Law Consolidation (Mental Impairment) Amendment Bill 2016 aimed to exclude residents that cause crime through intoxication, even if it is self-induced.
In view of the Law Society, the bill overlooks medical evidence in regards to the connection between mental illness and substance abuse.
The Law Society believes that more people may be exposed to the massive injustice when self-induced intoxication gets prohibited. For example, there are scenarios whereby one is charged of a crime or offence that they committed while mentally incompetent.
As a matter of fact, the Protection and Wellbeing of Young People and Children (Advocacy and Oversight Bodies) Bill 2016 entailed that there should be put in place an effective Injury Review Committee that will perform its duties accordingly, the combination of work by the Commissioner for Young People and Children.
The South Australian legal body argued that the children’s commissioner needs to be given power to investigate and look deeply into individual cases that might lead to solving hidden issues affecting children and young people in the society. Hence, that’s the reason why the Law Society proposes that a children’s commissioner should be included in the bill.
The children commissioner will also be involved with guiding young people and children to big offices where they can access effective community service and get their complaints addressed accordingly.
On the other hand, the legal body believes that there will be efficient procedure for people wishing to make changes to their gender or sex on the register of marriages, deaths and births, thanks to the Births, Deaths and Marriages (Gender Identity) Amendment Bill 2016.
The legal body is fully behind this bill because it will help curb laws that have been prejudiced against individuals based on intersex status, gender identity, gender and sexual orientation.
