No increase to CMC powers

Amendments to the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 currently being considered by state parliament will restore the power that the Crime and Misconduct Commission, and its predecessor the Criminal Justice Commission, had always exercised.

Like the Fitzgerald Inquiry twenty years ago, both the CJC and the CMC have possessed the power to compel a witness to answer questions in the course of investigating misconduct.

The proposed legislative amendments became necessary after a recent decision of the Supreme Court questioned the adequacy of the current statutory provisions.

The Bill presently before Parliament does no more than resolve the ambiguity identified by the Supreme Court.

ENDS