Lawyer’s call for full inquiry into crime and corruption watchdog

Corruption should never be tolerated, but the public must have full confidence those who police it are beyond reproach. The recent failures of the CCC highlight why they should be an inquiry into their powers and practices, writes Calvin Gnech.

It is true that corruption, at any level, cannot, and should not ever be tolerated or accepted and those that engage in such behaviour should be dealt with harshly, however, the concerning issues surrounding the powers and practices of the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) continue to be raised at the highest level.

The failed prosecution of the Logan City Councillors was the final straw in this regard and on 28 May 2021 the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee resolved to conduct an inquiry into the Crime and Corruption Commission’s investigation of former councillors of the Logan City Council and related matters.

The inquiry was ordered after the CCC had the Logan City Council itself dissolved and criminal charges preferred against Councillors.

That prosecution was ultimately withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecution for lack of evidence.

These CCC prosecutions caused both a catastrophic and irreversible impact upon the seven ex-councillors, by destroying their reputations and careers.

The concerning part is this is far from the first time the CCC have engaged in such cavalier and reckless prosecuting practices.

Former Logan City Councillor Phil Pidgeon outside Brisbane Magistrates Court in April. Picture: Richard Walker

As recently as last month, the CCC’s four-year prosecution of Police Superintendent Michelle Stenner was dismissed by the District Court for want of evidence in dramatic circumstances.

The Judge presiding over the matter did not even allow the case to be considered by the jury due to the tenuous nature of the evidence being relied upon.

These failed prosecutions continue to squander millions of taxpayers’ dollars.

Although the CCC have obtained a couple of high-profile scalps in recent years overall their prosecution success rate is abysmal.

I am hesitant to name the many failed CCC cases specifically given those people charged and acquitted because of failed CCC prosecutions do not want or need any further attention brought upon them.

Their careers and lives have been destroyed enough already.

These concerns about the CCC prosecution practices are climaxing with the extraordinary submissions made last month by Counsel Assisting the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee into the CCC, Mr Jonathon Horton QC when he submitted to the inquiry that CCC chair Alan MacSporran had not ensured the CCC acted impartially, independently, and fairly at all times.

CCC chairman Alan MacSporran. Picture: Domanii Cameron

Mr Horton said: “We submit that that failing is serious and reflects poorly on his standing as chair of the CCC”. “It’s open to you to conclude … that the resistance to scrutiny and to accept error is a problem of leadership and you may not as a committee have the confidence that the chair can ensure the organisation’s continued impartiality, independence and fairness. For that reason, we’ve raised for your consideration the question of whether you would wish to make any recommendation to the Legislative Assembly in accordance with … section 236 [termination of appointment].”

This should not be the end of the matter.

An inquiry should now be announced by Government into the broader practices of the CCC and specifically if the CCC holds or ever held an authority to prosecute criminal offences.

In the 32-year history of the CCC, all governments have made it clear, through legislation and parliamentary speeches, that the CCC was nothing more than an investigative and referral agency, not a prosecuting authority for criminal offences.

There are only two criminal prosecuting agencies in Queensland and that is the Queensland Police Service and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The CCC currently engage in a practice of suggesting they have nothing to do with criminal prosecutions and it is their seconded police officers working at the CCC who are exercising their own independent discretion to lay criminal charges as they see fit.

This proposition was entirely discredited during the Logan City Councillor committal hearing when the investigating police officer provided evidence that when working at the CCC he held no authority to decide to charge or not charge a person without receiving approval first from CCC hierarchy.

Lawyer Calvin Gnech. Picture: AAP

In my view, the way the CCC is behaving with their own ‘extrajudicial’ prosecutions is seriously undermining the integrity of the criminal justice system here in Queensland.

It is of some significant concern when it appears confidence has been lost in the CCC when it comes to criminal prosecutions.

Serious questions also need to be asked about the CCC’s continued intrusion and dilution of

the prosecutorial independence of both the QPS and the DPP.

The CCC’s over-reliance on and abuse of coercive hearings, commonly referred to as ‘star

chambers’, that I believe could be unlawful, is yet further evidence of the lack of actual

investigative integrity and the gross overstepping of accepted prosecutorial norms.

With great power comes great responsibility.

Once the integrity of the holder of such power becomes questionable one must ask should they be trusted to continue to wield it?

I support a full and independent inquiry into the prosecuting practices of the CCC and specifically why the CCC should not be characterised as an investigative/referral body without any power to prosecute criminal offences as originally intended by the legislators.

Calvin Gnech is managing director of Gnech and Associates, experts in criminal law and Crime and Corruption Commission investigations.