The death in custody of an indigenous man last week is exactly what an Aboriginal legal aid group says it feared would happen when the Northern Territory introduced paperless arrests.
The Northern Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency has mounted a High Court challenge against paperless arrests on the grounds that they are inconsistent with the separation of powers.
The new system, introduced in October, is intended to reduce paperwork for police by allowing them to hold someone for four hours without charge.
But a 59-year-old indigenous man arrested for drinking in public died in the Darwin watch house on Thursday evening.
He was arrested about 6pm and was found dead in his cell during a routine inspection three hours later.
"It was exactly the sort of thing we were concerned about when they introduced this regime," NAAJA principal lawyer Jonathon Hunyor told AAP.
"Paperless arrests mean more Aboriginal people are going to be held in police custody more often and for longer than otherwise, and that inevitably increases the risk of tragedies like this occurring."
The power had decreased police accountability because people arrested are not entitled to apply for bail or to appear quickly before a court.
"The regime ironically only applies to minor offences, so someone accused of serious offences actually has more rights than someone arrested under this regime," he said.
My Hunyor said on-the-spot fining was introduced so people would not be arrested for minor offences.
But the new system only applies to on-the-spot fine matters, delaying what police would have otherwise done at the time of arrest.
"What the law does is not reduce the amount of paper but give police a window in which they can simply hold someone for any reason they choose," he said.
Justice Minister John Elferink said he was "thoroughly satisfied" with how the system operates and said police are more accountable than ever before.
It was about "getting people out of circulation" earlier, he said.
"The person making an idiot of themselves and causing a minor disturbance at 11 o'clock is invariably the person you end up arresting at 2 o'clock in the morning for much more serious offences," he told ABC radio.
He said the man who died had a pre-existing medical condition which was identified by watch house staff when he was assessed after his arrest.
The coroner will investigate.
Share
