NSW Government introduces veil removing law

Police and other government security personnel will soon have the right to views a person's face under the NSW Government's Identification Legislation Amendment Bill 2011, introduced yesterday by the Attorney-General, Greg Smith.

The move, which is expected to receive opposition support, was a response to NSW mother of seven Carnita Matthews, being acquitted of falsifying a statutory declaration, in a complaint against a police officer who fined her for not displaying her P plates.

The District Court Judge dismissed the case against Carnita Matthews on the grounds that he was

…not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that she made the complaint and even if I was … I would not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that it was knowingly false

….all we know is that a person with a black burqa came in [to Campbelltown police station] with a man in a brown suit with an envelope and that's it..

His honour also found that there were differences between Ms Matthews’ signature and the one on the statutory declaration. 

The Identification Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 amends the Oaths Act 1901 to require that an authorised witness must see a person’s face if he or she witnesses their signature. It also amends the Law Enforcement Powers and Responsibilities Act (‘LEPRA’) to allow Police officers the right to see a person’s face for identification purposes.

The Attorney-General stated in his second reading speech that

the Government has consulted with members of the Islamic community on the content of this bill and is committed to ongoing work through the Community Relations Commission on the development of guidelines that will apply to government agencies.

The bill allows for anyone entering a court wearing a veil (or other face covering) to ask for a court or detention centre security officer of the same sex to see his or her face in privacy. The same right does not exist for people who are asked by a police officer to remove their veils.

Veils (or Niqaab in Arabic) are worn by some Muslim women in the presence of all those except their spouses and family members. France made headlines by banning the Niqaab earlier this year and there were calls by Federal Liberal MP Cory Bernardi to ban the veil in public places although it was shot down by the Government.        

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