`Do Queensland’s ‘tough new laws’ of 2013 that ‘target the illegal activities of criminal bikie gangs’ violate the human rights of motorcycle club members and other members of the public?
The Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act (VLAD) was brought into action 2013. The act states that “a person is a vicious lawless associate if the person commits a declared offence; and at the time the offence is committed, or during the course of the commission of the offence, is a participant in the affairs of an association (relevant association) and did or omitted to do the act that constitutes the declared offence for the purpose of, or in the course of participating in the affairs of, the relevant association. However, a person is not a vicious lawless associate if the person proves that the relevant association is not an association that has, as 1 of its purposes, the purpose of engaging in, or conspiring to engage in, declared offences.”
This Act allows the police force to charge/arrest any person if it can be proven that they are associated with ‘bikie gangs’, have a logo relating to a gang or are in part of a group of three or more associates.
The sentencing that is related to the VLAD Laws state that the associate will be imprisoned for the duration of time related tot heir committed offence and then a further fifteen years must be served along with their original sentence. Essentially it means that if you are associated with a bikie gang and commit a crime “for
Throughout recent years legal actions have been taken on behalf of the Australian States and Territories, in an attempt to decrease the amount of organised crimes committed by Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMCGs). The introduction of organised crime legislations in South Australia, New South Whales and Queensland have all caused controversy within the legal profession, as many argue that existing crime legislations and specialised police task forces are sufficient enough. Both legal and non-legal actions have been taken against this issue, however the question still stands whether or not these legislations are effective.
In addition, you see the similarities with the Very Bad Bike Club how the members are using their resources to get out of bigger trouble like Chris Brown did. Furthermore, if the law enforcement officers have hard evidence or more than probable cause against the Very Bad Bike Club the courts can put them away for a long time. The only thing the courts have from putting these criminals away is the right amount of probable cause and hard evidence against the Very Bad Bike Club. Furthermore, the plea bargaining would still be for a felony charge if the evidence was against the Very Bad Bike Club was good enough against them. Furthermore, if the Virtual Criminal Justice Alliance just work together and communicate the Very Bad Bike Club members could be put away for a long time. As the chief criminal prosecutor from the Office of the District Attorney the courts are looking to put a stop to putting these Very Bad Bike Club members on a celebrity status. The courts feel they can put an end to the Very Bad Bike Club getting an easy ride out of the courts system.
These laws will help to remove bikies from the industry and consequently reduce the reasons for rival gangs to fight turf wars, as these businesses will no longer be symbols of gang territories. Prior to the creation of the Tattoo Parlour Act 2012, was the fatal brawl at Sydney Domestic Airport Terminal March 2009 between members of the Comancheros and Hells Angels. This fatal brawl has been linked with the Hells Angles opening a tattoo parlour on what was considered Comancheros turf. This is one example of a fatal event caused by outlaw motorcycle gangs and unfortunately is not an isolated incident, simply showing how necessary the law change is in relation to the issue of the stranglehold motorcycle gangs have over the tattoo
The problem with achieving justice with this legal response is that the police of government officials can make the determination of criminalising clubs without court oversight thus may be used to target individuals or individual associations rather than being equally applied to all. What is deemed to be more of an issue is that this legal approach virtually affects a person’s fundamental freedom to associate with whomever one pleases. This is seen throw the introduction of “guilty by association” – under which a person may be found criminally liable simply for associating with another person who commits a crime, even though that person has committed no crime his or her self. An act, which illustrates this legal response, is the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008 (SA). The primary goal was to disrupt OMCG activities and protect the public from their violence.
Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMCG’s) inhabit an active presence in all states and territories in Australia. Some members of these gangs are responsible for serious organised crime and yet the total gang and membership numbers of Australian OMCGs is rising.
In this day and age crime is crazy, a leap in crimes committed, the population is growing and so the demand for technology is increasing, this only results in more crime, more criminals and more witnesses. Joint enterprise is a new law recently re-introduced aiming to reduce the amount of criminals but ended up punishing the innocent witnesses. Joint enterprise is a topic in which experts have been debating about for a long time. Some believe that joint enterprise is a form of human rights abuse whereas others think it is just.
‘Bikie gangs are like any other organisation or club. There are criminals in all walks of life’
The New Mafia refers to style of mafia that became increasingly prevalent in the 1950s. Prior to the New Mafia, the Old Mafia ran their operations with a focus on achieving power in society. They often associated with those in political power, even to the extent of pledging their alliance with a powerful political party in Italy, the Christian Democratic Party (Abadinsky, 2017). In return, their pledge would essentially secure an unofficial position of power within the Italian government.
Part 2 of the legislation amends the Crimes Act 1958, by inserting a new section 4A. The aim of the legislators stated during the second reading speech was ‘to provide that certain acts are to be taken to be dangerous acts for the purposes of the law relating to
Ever since the creation of the first prison gang the ‘Gypsy Jokers’, gangs in prisons have been a handful for officials trying to provide safety and security not only for corrections workers but for inmates as well. Prison gangs have been responsible for carrying out any number of illicit activites behind bars, these include but may not be limited to: gambling, drugs, protection, and prostitution (Knox, 2012). Over the years research for prison gangs proves difficult because of the secretive nature behind these organizations, but there is new evidence being brought to light that is helping combat these illusive and lucrative criminal organizations.
Organized crime has many relationships that go along with the group. For the sake of the assignment, I will be discussing the organized crime of biker gangs or rather “clubs”. There are many different relationships dealing with biker gangs, both in and out of the gang. Many people see them as a nuisance, while others see them as kind of a group of Robin Hoods.
Within the Criminal Justice system, comes a structure of both practices as well as organizations that main role is to uphold not only social jurisdiction, but to discourage and diminish criminal activity. The Criminal Justice system also sanctions those who violate the laws of the land with penalties and reintegration of the criminals into society. In the United States, our policy has been guided by the 1967 President 's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, which issued a ground-breaking report 'The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society ' (President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice [Presidents Commission], 1967).
Gang crime is one of the most intriguing social phenomena’s across the world, as defining the deviancy has been difficult due to a broad range of definitions (Wood & Alleyne, 2010, pg. 101). One definition is given by David Curry and
The Penalties and Sentencing Act (Qld) 1992, has also been applied in regards to the final sentencing punishment of the defendants of the following cases.
or she did not nee to record it. If the Government do succeed in the