Human rights lawyers and Queensland’s law society say a proposed Liberal National party policy of mandatory life sentences for convicted child murderers would contravene the state’s Human Rights Act.
On Sunday, the opposition leader, David Crisafulli, used the party convention to announce the “adult crime, adult time” policy, which he said would act as a deterrence by subjecting children to much longer potential sentences behind bars.
Under current Queensland law, adult murderers are given a mandatory life sentence, with a mandatory non-parole period of up to 30 years, depending on the type of victim.
Crisafulli confirmed on Monday that “murder will have a mandatory life sentence” for youth offenders under their proposed legislation.
The Queensland Council of Civil Liberties president, Michael Cope, said the concept of “adult time for adult crime” appeared to be a direct rejection of section 33 of the state Human Rights Act.
The section requires a child who has been convicted of an offence to be treated “in a way that is appropriate for the child’s age”.
“The complex psychosocial factors that lead to a young person coming into repeated contact with the criminal justice system are unlikely to be resolved by a policy designed by rhyme scheme,” Cope said.
The Law Society president, Rebecca Fogerty, said it was the requirement for child murderers to be sentenced under the criminal code, like adults, that was most likely to contradict the Human Rights Act.
“The imposition of a mandatory life sentence on a charge of murder for a juvenile offends conventions of human rights, it offends provisions of the Human Rights Act. And it’s fundamentally wrongheaded, because there’s no capacity for the court to take into account the child’s individual circumstances, which is essential to being able to produce a just outcome according to law,” she said.
The society were not consulted on the legislation, Fogerty said.
Human rights lawyer Susan Harris-Rimmer agreed the policy “would be contrary to section 33 of the Human Rights” Act.
She said it would also be contrary to the United Nations convention on the rights of the child.
Asked whether the party would overturn the Human Rights Act if elected at the October state election, Crisafulli said: “If a young person takes someone’s life, that life has to count for something.
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“And there also has to be a deterrent sent that counts for something.”
Under the current Youth Justice Act, child murderers cannot be sentenced to longer than a decade behind bars, unless a judge determines that their offence was “particularly heinous”. Even then, sentences are likely to be much shorter than for adults.
The proposed new laws would capture children convicted of offences including murder, break and enter, manslaughter, serious harm such as wounding, stealing cars and dangerous operation of vehicles.
Parliament can override Queensland’s Human Rights Act at any time, but must include an explanatory note attached to the bill explaining the reason for the conflict.
The current Labor government – which passed the law in 2019 – has done this twice, as recently as last year.
On Monday the premier, Steven Miles, accused the opposition of politicising the issue.
“They see crime as a way of winning seats, that’s what you see playing out now.”