The Wigs

Celebrating a return to the studio, in this episode The Wigs delve into three diverse topics. First up, the limits of academic freedom as revealed in a recent High Court of Australia decision of Ridd v James Cook University [2021] HCA 32. Should academic freedom be qualified by a requirement to “afford respect and courtesy to others in one’s field of competence”? Should academics be censured, or even lose their jobs, for speaking out, being critical of others, and for attacking university administration and decision-making? Secondly, The Wigs discuss the controversial cases of Kassam v Hazzard; Henry v Hazzard [2021] NSWSC 1320, in which the Plaintiffs brought a whole host of legal challenges to the NSW vaccination requirements, and spoiler, lost all of them.  Thirdly, a case about a teenage Aboriginal girl videoed by police whilst being strip searched, and whether her case could be heard by a female Magistrate. 

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In this extras episode of The Wigs Emmanuel Kerkyasharian has a fascinating discussion with Edward Santow about Human rights, technology and artificial intelligence. The wide-ranging discussion touches on the robodebt saga, responsibility for algorithmic decision making, algorithmic deference & the need for the legal profession to understand more about statistics and computers as we progress into a new technological epoch.  
Edward Santow was Human Rights Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission from August 2016 to 28 July 2021.
Since September 2021, Ed has been the at the University of Technology, Sydney, as Industry Professor – Responsible Technology.

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In this episode, the Wigs are joined by solicitors Peter O’Brien and Stewart O’Connell to discuss the recent High Court decision about the liability of media outlets for things posted by other users in the comments on the media outlets’ Facebook pages. Peter and Stewart act for the plaintiff in the defamation proceedings, Dylan Voller.

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In this extra content interview, Wig Stephen Lawrence sits down with Alison Battison the founder of Human Rights for All, a unique Australian pro bono law firm having a major impact on Australian migration and human rights law. Human Rights for All specialise in obtaining liberty for detained asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons. They represented AJL20 (a Syrian man whose legal travails have been the subject of two previous Wigs episodes) in his proceedings before the Federal and High Court. Stephen and Alison discuss the man behind the case and the fascinating and important issues raised by this innovative and strategic (though ultimately, sadly, unsuccessful) piece of litigation. Listeners interested in donating to Human Rights for All should head to their website www.hr4a.com.au. 

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On this episode, the Wigs discuss the recent High Court decision Commonwealth of Australia v. AJL20 [2021] HCA 21, A narrow win for the Commonwealth against a refugee whose visa was canceled on character grounds, and a case that has potentially big implications for the protection of liberty in this country. Secondly, a world-first in enforcement against big tech - the Wigs delve into the Federal Court of Australia decision, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Google LLC (No 2) [2021] FCA 367, in which the consumer protection body, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission succeeded in showing Google has engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations to consumers about the personal location data the company collects, keeps and uses when using their Android phone and tablet devices. Finally, what has been described as "the most serious series of miscarriages of justice in recent English history" - a scandal which has finally been brought into the light after a long tail of destruction: "for 20 years the Post Office hijacked the English criminal justice system and used it, essentially as part of the Post Office for its own purposes. In the process, it ruined the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of innocent people". See Josephine Hamilton and Others v Post Office Limited [2021] EWCA Crim 577.

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This bonus episode of The Wigs is part of our solo Wig interview series. Felicity Graham sat down with special guest Rawan Arraf of the Australian Centre for International Justice to discuss universal jurisdiction, the crime of apartheid, the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over alleged offences in the occupied Palestinian Territory, the work that can be done domestically to achieve global justice and more.

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Kicking off Season 3, The Wigs Felicity Graham, Stephen Lawrence and Emmanuel Kerkyasharian (along with Jim Minns) broadcast live from lockdown with an in-depth look into the NSW public health orders that have hastily been put in place. Issues including the right to silence, the right against self-incrimination, policing in the time of COVID and the rule of law will be interesting to all.  

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