WA LEGAL ACTION UPDATE: NSC fights on multiple legal grounds
24 September 2020|Reclassification, Western Australia Police
THE LEGAL ACTION that the NSC has launched in WA to stop the reclassification of the Ruger PC Charger is about to heat up after we lodged a detailed written submission in the WA State Administrative Tribunal.
WA Police have argued that the SAT does not have the jurisdiction to hear our challenge based on what is called the “Killen” case.
However the NSC’s legal team has just lodged its submission responding to that, arguing that not only is Killen not relevant, and the grounds for the decision were flawed, but that the acting inspector who made the decision to prohibit (or reclassify) several firearms did not have the authority to do so.
In other words, that his decision was unlawful for more than one reason.
The Carltona Principle
The argument around authority is based on what is called the Carltona Principle which is a legal precedent dating back to WW2.
Central to the argument is the fact that the decision was not administrative, but policy, and was of such importance to the industry, that it should not have been delegated to that rank but a decision that should have been made by the WA Police Chief Commissioner himself.
The NSC submission also raises a number of other legal points around how the prohibition was made.
WA Police’s decision to ban the Ruger PC charger resulted in the NSW and SA Registry attempting to follow their lead, so this is an important case for all Shooters, not just those in WA.
As with our current gun shop action in Victoria, the NSC can now only wait to see what the SAT does. We’re hoping that another directions hearing will be heard in the not-too-distant future so we can get around to helping WA shooters continue to enjoy what they do, without others trying to take their guns off them.
The NSC continues to fight hard for all shooters everywhere, all day, every day.
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