Victorian stop-and-search police powers in constitutional federal court challenge<\/h2>\n
Douglas Smith<\/span><\/p>\n<\/header>\n The assistant commissioner for Victoria police is set to be cross-examined in federal court this morning as a constitutional challenge by a trio of activists looks at whether a declaration of Melbourne\u2019s CBD as a designated area for four months was legal.<\/p>\n It is the second day of a two-day hearing. Constitutional arguments were laid out by counsel from both sides yesterday, focusing on how the implied freedom of political communication can be interpreted by police; and whether a protester wearing face-coverings should be considered a form of \u201cpolitical expression\u201d or if they may be concealing their identity to commit a crime.<\/p>\n Under the declaration initiated from the Controlled Weapons Act, which was revoked four months early on 9 January<\/a>, police, including protective service officers, were allowed to stop and search anyone without a warrant if they were within the designated area.<\/p>\n Police were also able to require police to remove face-coverings \u2013 regardless of whether they were being worn for political or health purposes, such as to protect against the effects of crowd-control substances, such as pepper spray.<\/p>\n