The NSW Society of Labor Lawyers (NSW Labor Lawyers) is making this submission to the PJCIS to raise concerns about a number of aspects of the Counter-Terrorism (Foreign Fighters) Bill 2014.

The NSW Society of Labor Lawyers is a voluntary organisation of progressive lawyers in NSW. We have over 200 financial members and a network of approximately 600 people. NSW Labor Lawyers aims, through scholarship and advocacy, to effect positive, just and equitable changes to Commonwealth and NSW legislation.

The NSW Labor Lawyers strongly support the need to protect and enhance national security, and our comments on the Bill are presented in a context where NSW Labor Lawyers fully support and share in the national objective of maintaining the safety and security of Australians and Australian institutions.

However all laws designed to meet this objective must as a matter of course, given their nature, be closely scrutinized and justifiable. It is important to ensure that the purpose of such laws is appropriate, that each proposed extension of the law is responding to a real need which requires legislative intervention, and that the law goes no further in extending the powers of security agencies which impinge on individual rights, than is necessary....

Read the full submission here