Why Julian Assange May Have a Case to Answer in Australia, Despite What the AFP Says (or, Why Julia Gillard Might Be Right)

9 Pages Posted: 3 Jan 2011 Last revised: 13 Nov 2015

See all articles by Don Anton

Don Anton

ANU College of Law

Gregor Urbas

University of Canberra - Faculty of Business, Government and Law

Date Written: January 1, 2011

Abstract

Despite a finding by the Australian Federal Police that it has been unable to identify any breaches of Australian law by Julian Assange, the apparent leader of Wikileaks, we submit that such a finding is far from certain. While we are not in a position to second-guess the AFP on the strength of the evidence available, we highlight that there are matters of public record and a legal background that suggests that Assange and Wikileaks may have come close to committing an offence/s under the Australian Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) relating to telecommunication services.

Keywords: Australian Criminal Law, Julian Assange, Wikileaks, Telecommunication Offences

JEL Classification: K14, K42, K39

Suggested Citation

Anton, Donald K. and Urbas, Gregor, Why Julian Assange May Have a Case to Answer in Australia, Despite What the AFP Says (or, Why Julia Gillard Might Be Right) (January 1, 2011). ANU College of Law Research Paper No. 11-04, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1733666 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1733666

Donald K. Anton (Contact Author)

ANU College of Law ( email )

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://https://law.anu.edu.au/staff/don-anton

Gregor Urbas

University of Canberra - Faculty of Business, Government and Law ( email )

University Drive
Room 6C60
Bruce, 2617
Australia
(02) 6201 2729 (Phone)

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