By Ian Bushnell | The
Riotact
The Canberra lawyer charged with
breaching the intelligence act after helping to expose Australia’s spying on
East Timor has won the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) 2018 Civil Justice
Award.
Bernard Collaery, a former ACT
Attorney-General and respected advocate, and his client, a former ASIS spy
known as Witness K, were charged over revealing information about ASIS’s spying
operation in East Timor, where cabinet rooms were bugged. The matter is still
before the court.
Mr Collaery has been recognised
for his work in fighting for justice for the East Timor people, and was
presented with the Civil Justice Award at the ALA National Conference in
Melbourne on Friday (19 October).
ALA National President Noor
Blumer, also from Canberra, said Mr Collaery had spent many years advocating on
behalf of the people of Timor-Leste and was legal adviser to the National
Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CRNT) in the critical period leading up
to formal independence in 2002.
“Bernard Collaery is a truly
deserving recipient of our 2018 Civil Justice Award,” Ms Blumer said. “He has
shown great courage and integrity in his dealings on behalf of the Timor-Leste
people and more recently in acting for Witness K.
“Mr Collaery’s work in fulfilling
his professional obligations to Witness K has resulted in significant and
ongoing personal cost. He has been the subject of a prosecution and he has been
denied his right to make public comment on the administration of justice in
relation to his case.
“His commitment to ensuring
justice for his client and the people of Timor-Leste, in light of the personal
risks involved, is admirable.”
In addition to his international
work, Mr Collaery has a long history of representing plaintiffs in Australia to
ensure they receive justice. Mr Collaery represented the families of the
deceased in the 1997 Thredbo landslide coronial inquiry, he represented various
landholders in the compensation claims after the 2003 Canberra bushfire and
argued for damages for the family of Katie Bender who died in the Royal
Canberra Hospital implosion.
Mr Collaery is the principal of
Collaery Lawyers, a Canberra-based law firm with an international law division,
a civil law division and a criminal law division.
Ms Blumer is a director of Blumer
Personal Injury Lawyers.
Photo: Bernard Collaery and Noor
Blumer at the award presentation in Melbourne. Photo: Supplied
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