Lawyers’ role in maintaining the rule of law must not be compromised
8 November 2024
On 30 October 2024, the Law Council appeared before the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee regarding the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2024.
The Law Council was represented by Juliana Warner (President-Elect), Steven Stevens (Professional Ethics Committee) and Murray Hawkins (Principal Advisor, Regulation and Professional Standards).
The Law Council supports efforts to prevent financial crime, deprive terrorist groups of income sources, and ensure that Australia meets the standards to which it has committed as a member of the Financial Action Task Force.
However, the Law Council has real concerns about the Bill’s provisions which would require Australian lawyers to report on their clients. These provisions have the potential to undermine the lawyer/client relationship and the position of lawyers as officers of the court, which is a core part of Australia’s justice system and the rule of law.
In Canada, a comparable nation, lawyers are not required to make suspicious matter reports and Canada has not been grey-listed.
The Law Council believes that the Australian model needs to strike a better balance between law enforcement and access to justice. This would mandate action to be taken by the legal profession to avoid unwittingly facilitating money laundering, without undermining the important role that lawyers play in the administration of justice.
For more information about the Law Council’s position, see its media release here and submission here.
Last Updated on 22/11/2024