The public is in the dark about how secret trials can happen. So too is the legal profession.
"That leaves both the profession, and indeed the media, in the position that it's operating in a vacuum."
A 15-month inquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission in 2010 identified 506 secrecy provisions in 176 pieces of Commonwealth legislation, including 358 criminal secrecy offences., in which an ex-spy pleaded guilty to breaching the Intelligence Services Act in relation to allegations that Australia bugged East Timor's cabinet room during sensitive negotiations between the two countries. The matter is still ongoing.
In a submission to the Witness K case, he looked at how courts should take national security considerations into account.
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