SEXTON, DRUGS AND THE COURTS' ROLE

A new book by the NSW Solicitor-General will startle his more conservative
legal colleagues, writes Tony Stephens.

HOUSEBREAKING has been decriminalised. People who have had their houses
burgled have long suspected this, of course. Now Michael Sexton, NSW
Solicitor-General, makes it semi-official. In a book to be launched
tomorrow, Uncertain Justice, Sexton writes: "Housebreaking ... has been
effectively decriminalised in Sydney, in the sense that it is frequently not
reported, seldom investigated and hardly ever the occasion of conviction and
imprisonment."

Sexton says that some of the sharp rises in crimes such as housebreaking and
armed robbery can be attributed to the breakdown of traditional families,
population pressures in urban areas and other long-term social changes. But
the financing of drug purchases is also a significant factor. Sexton goes
on: "This raises the controversial question whether all drug use should be
decriminalised." He says this would destroy the industry's inflated price
structure. It might also lead to increased drug abuse, "although even heroin
does not have a marked physical impact on a person in robust health".

In any case, Sexton says: "These consequences need to be weighed against the
very high costs to the general community of the current drug policies and
the fact that the drug industry will only increase in size over the next
decade."

It is most unusual for a lawyer holding public office to venture into public
debate on the law by writing a book. Justice Michael Kirby, of the High
Court, has done it. Judges James Wood, Tony Fitzgerald, Paul Stein and
Margaret Beazley attacked mandatory sentencing policies in a letter to the
Herald earlier this year. Yet many of Sexton's conservative colleagues will
be startled by his being published.

Although he raises more questions than answers, his questions on the
decriminalisation of drugs will interest the launcher of the book, Bob Carr.
The Premier's views on drugs and crime appear a good deal more conservative
than those of his Solicitor-General.

Uncertain Justice examines a number of widely publicised cases with which
Sexton has been involved, including the child abuse case known as "Mr
Bubbles", Ivan Milat and the Belanglo Forest backpacker murders, the
Chelmsford Hospital deep-sleep therapy matter and cases involving Alan Bond,
John Elliott and Dr Geoffrey Edelsten. Sexton says his work is an attempt to
tell something about what has been going on in Australia over the past 20
years or so, and how the system has coped.

Looking at the question of the balance between freedom of speech and
reputation, he says, "The law does need to recognise more clearly that most
mass media publications are ephemeral and that there is a great public
interest in the open discussion of serious crimes."

Bond and Laurie Connell were cases in point. They presided over empires
controlling many millions of dollars of shareholders' funds. For almost a
decade from the mid-'80s they were involved in a series of criminal
prosecutions. Sexton writes: "It is clearly unsatisfactory that during this
period media discussion of these corporate titans' business affairs should
be restricted because some material published might reflect on the character
of Bond or Connell and so be prejudicial to their next trial."

Sexton raises the question of whether litigation, given its unpredictable
nature, is a rational way of resolving disputes and allocating resources in
modern society. With costs largely excluding individuals from many areas of
civil litigation, it had become the preserve of corporations and government
agencies.

The notion that the law can provide solutions to difficult economic and
social problems might be one reason for the explosion in the number of
people studying law, Sexton says. The community view of the legal
profession, as essentially driven by money, remains. He says the law must
ensure that the rights of ordinary people are protected. Mediation, the
Family Court's alternative to litigation, might be one way forward.

Uncertain Justice: Inside Australia's Legal System, by Michael Sexton, New
Holland, $22.95.