AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Suzanne Smith
Updated 3 Oct 2014
The announcement today that the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) in NSW will hold a public hearing as part of Operation Protea – an investigation into the relationship and agreements between police and the Catholic Church – is a welcome move.
There should be absolute clarity as to whether these arrangements were appropriate or could be in contravention of section 316 of the NSW Crimes Act – which refers to concealment of crimes.
If there was no complicity between the organisations, that will be a welcome relief.
What needs to be cleared up is whether the Catholic Church, through tricky legal thinking, set up these arrangements so they could not be prosecuted under new mandatory reporting laws in NSW.
The Catholic Church argues it acted in good faith, and wanted these arrangement to ensure there was no risk to children in their care.
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