NSW Attorney General on Human Rights

Mr John Hatzistergos is at the moment the NSW Attorney General. He is in the conservative wing of the Australian Labor Party and is an opponent of moves for the introduction of a charter of rights in Australia. He launched a broadside against a charter of rights in 2008. In April 2009 the Australian newspaper published an exchange of letters between Catherine Branson and Mr Hatzistergos.

Mr Hatzistergos uses a straw man argument. He says "whoa" we cannot bring about a culture of rights via legislation. The point is irrelevant and represents very sloppy reasoning. For a vibrant and stable democracy to flourish it cannot be created by legislation either. The secret to success for both democracy and for human rights to be promoted is shared values.

He sets up straw man examples and false stereotypes about the European system of human rights. He creates a bogeyman by using isolated examples out of context. It is a piece of propaganda, not a fair balanced presentation.

His argument to protect human rights simply echoes the hide-bound political philosophy of A V. Dicey (1835-1922). Dicey upheld the supremacy of parliament. Well what a wonderful recipe that is for the promotion of democracy and human rights! In an era where politics is dominated by barons trying to manipulate public opinion, smoke-and-mirrors spin doctors, and pragmatism trumps everything else, we need something more substantial than the self-serving interests of political parties in power.

The European system arose in the wake of the atrocities of Nazi Germany. Mr Hatzistergos must first show that he has read the European Convention on Human Rights . He must then show he understand the procedures, jurisprudence and case decisions associated with the European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights. This must be mastered before one can even begin evaluating the European system.

Does he ever discuss any of the positive advances made in the protection of human rights in Europe since World War Two?

His curriculum vitae does not show that he has attended any of the annual summer programmes of the International Institute of Human Rights that Rene Cassin established in 1969 with the Nobel Peace Prize.

What we learn from his speeches is very little about the subject of human rights law and much more about the mindset of the Attorney General himself. Arthur Henry Robertson, one of the founding fathers of the European system, rightly said:

"It is simply not possible in this imperfect world to devise any system which will be perfect and complete ... [nevertheless] the European system is the best yet established by any international organization." (Human Rights in Europe, 2nd ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1977, p. 278).

With "friends" like Mr Hatzistergos resisting the entire field of human rights law (in what appears to be hopeless and woeful ignorance of the subject), who in NSW needs any "enemies"?