High Court challenge to anti bikie laws
1. Stefan Kuczborski challenged Queensland’s ‘Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment’ (‘VLAD’) anti-bikie laws because he believed that if he committed an act in violation of the laws, he might be convicted and receive a mandatory sentence of 15 years in jail in addition to whatever normal sanction was handed down.
2. Kuczborski argued that he had standing because he was one of the people targeted by the anti-bikie law: if he was convicted of any offence, he would receive 15 years mandatory jail time in addition to whatever sanction was handed down.
3. The High Court refused to rule on a number of the challenges brought by Kuczborski, on the basis that he did not have standing to make those claims.
4. The Court gave the term “standing” a narrow interpretation, limiting it to people who have been affected by the law – not people whobelong to a category of person who could be, or are likely to be, affected in the future.