Legal information for forest activists
Forest actions in Victoria have taken many forms, from large rallies, mass civil disobedience, physical human blockades to the use of tall ‘tripods' and ‘monopoles', a huge range of ‘lock-on' devices, ‘dragons', tree-sits and cabling which aim to slow or stop the logging of forest or bushland areas.
Successful blockades, such as at Riley's Ridge in the Otways (2000), used tree-sits suspended by cables which were attached from tree to tree, preventing the trees from being felled without risking the tree-sitter's life. Tarzan swing style escapes enabled the protesters to escape arrest and hold the blockade. This was the first time blockaders successfully stopped a working coupe and prevented further logging indefinitely. The coupe is now inside the proposed Otways National Park.
'Tripods' (which were pioneered in Australia and are now used around the world), have been used to obstruct roads, but are now used with cabling to suspended tree-sits, to out-reach a crane and prevent protestor removal. Erecting a long single, central pole from a tripod is a ‘mono-pole', which ensures vehicles cannot pass between the tripod's legs and provides additional height. Mono-poles have also been erected on excavators and bulldozers, supported with cables.
Relevant legal issues
In addition to many of the common offences and legal issues described elsewhere , there are a range of special legal issues that are directly relevant for forest activists.
The management and protection of forests on public land in Victoria is controlled by the Secretary of the Department of Sustainability and Environment ("DSE”) under Section 18 of the Forests Act 1958 (Vic). Section 83 of the Conservation, Forests and Lands Act 1987 (Vic) (“CFLA ”) enables the Secretary to appoint government employees (usually DSE employees) as authorised officers. Those officers are empowered to enforce the applicable laws and regulations in State forest including as provided under the Forests Act 1958 (Vic), the CFLA, the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004 (Vic) (“SFTA”) and the Safety on Public Land Act 2004 (Vic).
Authorised officers have powers of arrest (as any citizen does) if they have reasonable grounds for believing a person has committed or is committing an offence and to prevent the continuation or repetition of the offence or the commission of a further offence, or certain other conditions (see Section 458, Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)). DSE officers also have limited powers of arrest under the Forests Act 1958 (Vic).
Authorised officers can seize and remove ‘abandoned goods', (Section 95C Forests Act 1958 (Vic)) which can be anything you leave unattended in State Forest. They can destroy the item if they think it is perishable, or dangerous. An authorised officer may seize any item used or being used by a person in the commission of the offence (Section 95F CFLA and Section 88 of the SFTA ). If an item is seized, they must provide a receipt. The item must be returned to its owner within 90 days of its seizure or the owner can apply for the return of the item after 90 days has expired (Section 89, SFTA).
As a repressive tactic police and DSE officers have been laying multiple charges for a single event. Activists have been faced with up to 14 charges for the same event.
The passing of the SFTA amended numerous existing offences in the Forests Act and in the CFLA, and has created new criminal offences.
The criminal offences (most frequently prosecuted) and including offences introduced by the SFTA, are listed below.
Common charges used in forest actions
It is an offence not to supply your name and address to an authorised officer, if they believe you are committing an offence, and have advised you of that and identified themselves first (Section 84, SFTA); maximum penalty of 5 penalty units (one penalty unit equals $102.50)).
It is an offence to hinder or obstruct an authorised officer, unless you have a reasonable excuse, when they are exercising their duty (Section 122 SFTA , Section 95 Forests Act 1958 (Vic); maximum penalty of 60 penalty units). It is an offence to insult, or abuse a DSE officer if they are exercising their duty (section 122 SFTA , Section 87 Forests Act 1958 (Vic); maximum penalty of 60 penalty units).
In comparison, “common” assault, where any person “unlawfully assaults or beats another person” attracts a maximum penalty of 15 penalty units or imprisonment for three months (Section 23 Summary Offences Act 1966 (Vic)) and “aggravated assault”, where “any person who in company with any other person or persons assaults another person”, gives rise to a maximum penalty of imprisonment for twelve months; and where “any person who by kicking or with any weapon or instrument whatsoever assaults another person” the maximum penalty is imprisonment for two years (Section 24 Summary Offences Act 1966 (Vic)).
It is an offence to hinder or obstruct another person in the lawful carrying out of forest operations or the operation itself (penalty: 20 penalty units, Section 95A CFLA (one penalty unit equals $100). This is the only offence that still requires the prosecution to prove that the logging was “lawful”.
Note: there are also other provisions sometimes relied on to prosecute forest activists, such as the road obstruction provisions in the Forests (Miscellaneous) Regulations 2000 (Vic).
Legal support in the forests
Due to the often isolated and high-risk nature of many forest based blockades and actions, well organised activist safety and activist legal support strategies need to be in place.
The best source of legal information and legal support for forest activists in Victoria is the organisation Lawyers for Forests Inc., an association of legal professionals working to promote the conservation and better management of Australia's remaining native forests.
Lawyers for Forests believes that peaceful protest is a legitimate form of civil expression and a valuable part of democracy. Peaceful nonviolent protests have for many years been a vehicle for the expression of community concern about the unnecessary and unlawful destruction of native forests and have significantly raised the profile of the issue in the media.
Lawyers for Forests provides:
- information to conservationists on their rights and responsibilities when taking part in a protest; and
- free legal advice and representation where needed after the event.
Lawyers For Forests
PO Box 550
Collins Street West
Melbourne 8007
By e-mail:
lff@lawyersforforests.asn.au
www.lawyersforforests.asn.au
Environment Defenders Office (EDO)
The Environment Defenders Office also has a set of useful legal rights information including Your Rights When Arrested Protesting In Victoria's Native Forests which can be found at: http://www.edo.org.au/edovic/education.html#forest . It is also recommended you check out the Defend the Defenders kit which contains useful downloadable guides for responding to legal threats, media, bomb threats and handling claims of ‘eco-terrorism'. Defend the Defenders Kit can be found at:
http://www.edo.org.au/edovic/publications.html#Defend
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