The rule of law and reasonable suspicion

State governments in Australia have recently introduced legislation allowing police to conduct a search of an individual in specified cases without the need to show reasonable suspicion. This is a substantial departure from established criminal law due process, and mirrors British legislation that provided for something similar in the context of investigating possible terrorist activity. In this article, I argue that such a law is inconsistent with the rule of law, because it allows a police power to be exercised in an arbitrary way, and without specified limits. In this conclusion, I am supported by a recent European Court of Human Rights decision. I argue that the rule of law and due process are implicit in the Commonwealth Constitution, such that laws which take away the need to show reasonable suspicion are inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid for that reason

Economics · Law and economics · Political science · Rule of law · Criminal Law and Evidence · European Criminal Justice and Data Protection · Law · Policing Practices and Perceptions

• The Futures of criminology

  David Nelken•The Futures of criminology•1994

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