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Parliament of Australia - Senate: Remove advocates' immunity
  1. Signatures
    118 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Parliament of Australia - Senate (Parliament of Australia - Senate)
  2. Created By
    Mary Cotter
    Preston, Australia
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
Why This Is Important

Equality under the law is supposed to be a fundamental tenet of the rule of law, yet lawyers in Australia have been granted a unique immunity that effectively places them above the law - no matter how negligently a lawyer handles a case, they are protected from being sued for work that is in any way related to a court or other hearing, even if their negligence causes or contributes to you being wrongfully imprisoned.

As well, the current situation provides no disincentive to discourage lawyers from being negligent in preparing their clients’ cases, and too often results in people being wrongfully imprisoned as a result of either such negligence, or through being given incorrect advice that suits the lawyers’ agendas. Yet no matter how serious the loss of liberty or financial security that a lawyer may cause their client through negligent actions or poor advice, said client has no recourse in law to seek recompense.

UPDATE: Removing advocates' immunity is but the first step, and will have little effect on its own as lawyers have protected themselves using a myriad of means, including disclinary bodies that have seemingly been set up more to protect corrupt lawyers than to discipline them, hence the second petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/parliament-of-australia-senate-provide-australians-with-unbiased-and-effective-legal-disciplinary-bodies

more coming soon - for now see

http://www.lawhandbook.org.au/handbook/ch02s02s06.php#

http://skepticlawyer.com.au/2008/10/10/advocate-immunity/

http://flac.htmlplanet.com/reports/letterBD2.htm

http://lawyerslawyer.net/2007/05/09/wa-supreme-court-says-advocates-immunity-applies-to-misleading-and-deceptive-conduct-claims-against-lawyers/

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2011/human-rights-2/the-victorian-injustice-system/

And if you like this petition you may also like:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/truth-in-justice-reform-adversarial-legal-system-to-i.html

 

 

 

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Remove advocates' immunity

Dear Nicola Roxon, Attorney-General,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Parliament of Australia - Senate.

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TO THE HONOURABLE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE SENATE IN PARLIAMENT

We, the undersigned concerned citizens, petition Parliament to remove the immunity from suit, known as ‘advocates’ immunity’, that the legal profession enjoys regarding work that is in any way connected to the running of a trial or action.

Equality under the law is supposed to be a fundamental tenet of the rule of law, yet lawyers in this country have been granted a unique immunity that effectively places them above the law. As well, the current situation provides no disincentive to discourage lawyers from being negligent in preparing their clients’ cases, and too often results in people being wrongfully imprisoned as a result of either such negligence, or through being given incorrect advice that suits the lawyers’ agendas. Yet no matter how serious the loss of liberty or financial security that a lawyer may cause their client through negligent actions or poor advice, said client has no recourse in law to seek recompense.

The Judges’ arguments against removing the immunity simply do not stand up to scrutiny.
For example, “the need for certainty and finality of decision”, "adverse consequences for the efficient administration of justice" and that the existence of one unjustifiable immunity should justify the existence of another unjustifiable immunity are hardly convincing reasons to continue with an unjust system, one that compounds miscarriages of justice caused by negligent solicitors and barristers.

The US and Canada have never had advocates’ immunity, while in recent years Britain, New Zealand and Singapore have removed or at least moderated said immunity, without the dire ramifications predicted by the defenders of the current anomalous situation.
Speaking of his time as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Professor Hampel has said that judges “were constantly reporting cases of barristers showing insufficient preparation, legal research, knowledge of basic case law, legislation and advocacy skills..... Ultimately the people who suffer are clients, who face a serious risk of injustice..... The court system also suffers from poor advocacy because it is much harder for judges to conduct cases and run an efficient system when they are receiving insufficient assistance from barristers and other advocates.”
Lawyers are sworn to uphold the law, they should not be above the law. Advocates’ immunity is both intellectually and morally indefensible, therefore we, the undersigned concerned citizens, urge Parliament to bring lawyers into line with every other profession and remove this legal anomaly.

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Sincerely,

[Your name]