Fitzroy Legal Service have filed documents in the Federal Court seeking that the court make a declaration that a Notice to Comply served to Occupy Melbourne participants by council officers on Friday the 4th of November was “ultra vires” and hence “null, void and of no legal force or effect.”
Occupy Melbourne seeks to uphold the right of all Australians to protest as enshrined in the constitutional right of political communication.
In an important test case for civil rights, assisted by the Human Rights Law Centre and Emrys Nekvapil and Nick Wood of counsel, former Federal Court Judge, Ron Merkel, QC, is acting on behalf of the litigant from Occupy Melbourne. This legal challenge may act as an international precedent for how police and local authorities respond to peaceful protests around the world.
“We are taking the reasonable and responsible path, contrary to the path taken by Lord Mayor Robert Doyle and Victoria Police,” said litigant James Muldoon.
An interim injunction is being sought to stop the City of Melbourne from acting upon or giving effect to the Notice to Comply. The case is running on the basis that the manner in which the council is using their powers is incompatible with constitutional implied rights to freedom of political communication.
Erin Buckley from Occupy Melbourne’s Legal Support Team stated; “Council by-laws have been used against participants in Occupy Melbourne in clear conflict with their civil rights. A basic tenet of any democracy should be the right to free speech and peaceful assembly.”
“We hope to see this challenge succeed and the courts uphold the right of all Australians to be in a public space and exercise their right to political expression.”