Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Occupy: Don't call it a protest

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  • DCBCauchi, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    On the basis of this, I’d say you probably owe the Dunedin constabulary something akin to an apology. Wouldn’t you?

    As soon as they prosecute the police who acted unlawfully during the early 90s student protests and aftermath in a fair trial held in public I will. Sure.

    Since Feb 2011 • 320 posts Report

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to DCBCauchi,

    Yeah, way to avoid admitting that you called it completely and utterly wrong on the position of Dunedin's cops towards Occupy Dunedin.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report

  • DCBCauchi, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    I am not even going to bother. There would be too many rude words involved. Someone might get offended by my hate crime.

    Since Feb 2011 • 320 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to DCBCauchi,

    I'd imagine the decision would have come down from above - TPTB having decided that ignoring the protest is a better strategy for them than seeking to evict it.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic,

    Looks like the DCC will be using the private sector to do what the police have ruled out.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes,

    He said police would not enforce a trespass notice issued on October 15 by the Dunedin City Council to Occupy Dunedin protesters camping in the Octagon, because it would leave them open to being sued for breaching the Bill of Rights Act.
    Legal experts yesterday said they were not surprised by that decision, and commended the police for their decision.

    Interesting.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • Paul Campbell,

    The whole issue is muddied by common local story, and in fact the DCC's recent claim that there's still a bylaw on the books (no one can actually find it, it's on a dusty scroll somewhere) that allows camping in the Octagon provided one is on one's way to the goldfields (which could be proved by hiking a block vaguely in the direction of Central Otago once one decamps)

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Dunedin law lecturer Andrew Geddis expands on the legalities of any local bylaw's relationship with the nation's Bill of Rights.

    The New Zealand Parliament has passed an enactment - a law of the land - that affirms all New Zealanders have a right to peacefully assemble and express themselves. That's what the occupiers are doing.

    Those rights, as affirmed in law by New Zealand's Parliament, can only be limited in ways that are "demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society". This requires the person seeking to limit the rights - the DCC, in this case - to show both that there is a very good reason to limit the rights and that this reason, in the particular circumstances, supports the particular limit on the rights in question.

    Therefore, it is not enough for the DCC simply to say "we have made a general bylaw that limits the rights in question" ... because the DCC (and all the bylaws it creates) must respect these rights that Parliament has affirmed in law. The DCC instead has to show that there is a good enough reason for applying the particular bylaw to this particular protest in a way that brings it to a halt. Which it has yet to do - apart from supply some very general complaints about "the wider public" being kept out of the upper Octagon.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    As soon as they prosecute the police who acted unlawfully during the early 90s student protests and aftermath in a fair trial held in public I will. Sure.

    As someone who wrote his honours dissertation on the event, and was there, I can confidently say there was no basis for any police officers to be charged.

    What they did on that day was stupid and wrong, but not illegal. They got well and truly spanked by a high court judge who called their actions "gratitutous and unnecessary".

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • DCBCauchi, in reply to Kyle Matthews,

    Well, I was there too, and no honours student or high court judge ever asked me what I saw and experienced, or asked any of the quite large number of my friends who were also there as far as I'm aware, so I'll respectfully disagree.

    Were you with us when we were stopped on Mt Cargill one of those nights?

    But I don't want to argue about it. All I wanted to say was that Dunedin cops are hard arses, or at least were not that long ago. Reasonably uncontentious thing to say I thought.

    Since Feb 2011 • 320 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic,

    Occupy Wall Street is finally starting to evolve into Gherao Wall Street.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

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