Australian Blade Ed 3 Dec 2017

police are not bound to enforce every infringement of the law they come across and have a discretion
The
deciding whether to act or not. In the case of the latter and by way of contrast to the former, police
in
such the concept of the police
As
not to enforce the law is something utterly foreign to the average person, hence the cries of
choosing
and protest. According to commentators “Full enforcement” of the criminal law is a myth 7 and
disbelief
an unrealistic expectation on the police. 8
places
as discussed in the first edition of Australian Blade, the legal definition of a single handed opening
Now
that is a Category M weapon is unclear. This is due to poor drafting of the relevant weapons
knife
and a lack of case law to guidance in its interpretation. Such poor drafting results in an
regulation
in defining the substantive offence and illustrates one of Goldstein’s limitations that can
ambiguity
“the police seeking or achieving full enforcement”. This may explain the apparent lack of
prevent
of knife retailers that sell Category M knives without a dealer’s license. On the flip-side it is
prosecution
factor may explain the apparent lack of prosecution of knife retailers is that Queensland is the
Another
state burdened with legislation that restricts single handed opening knives. As noted in the first
only
opening knives that can be opened by gravity, inertia or centrifugal force…
“…single-handed
many lawful uses, including for use in outdoor recreational activities such as camping,
have
knives are not prohibited in any other state or territory. So while the rest of Australia applies a
These
approach, Queensland lags behind. I can only speculate but it might just be that the Queensland
sensible
Service tacitly acknowledge the stupidity of the Queensland legislation by not enforcing it against
Police
who sell these knifes without a dealer's license.
retailers
any event and regardless of what the the rest of Australia does, if you have possession of or sell a
In
M knife in Queensland without the relevant license, you are breaking the law.
Category
Goldstein, Joseph, "Police Discretion Not to Invoke the Criminal Process: Low-Visibility Decisions in the Administration
6
Justice" (1960). Faculty Scholarship Series. Paper 2426, page 543.
of
Goldstein, Joseph, "Police Discretion Not to Invoke the Criminal Process: Low-Visibility Decisions in the Administration
8
Justice" (1960). Faculty Scholarship Series. Paper 2426, pages 560 and 561.
of
Chris Bowyer, Acting Director, Restricted Goods Policy, Trade and Customs Branch of Department of Immigration and
10
Protection (15 December 2015) Department of Immigration and Border Protection Notice 2015/40 “Amendments to
Border
Firearms
decisions not to act “are generally of extremely low visibility.” 6
“In addition to ambiguities in the definitions of both substantive offenses and due-process
boundaries, countless limitations and pressures preclude the possibility of the police seeking or
achieving full enforcement. Limitations of time, personnel, and investigative devices-all in part but
not entirely functions of budget-force the development, by plan or default, of priorities of
enforcement. Even if there were "enough police" adequately equipped and trained, pressures from
within and without the department, which is after all a human institution, may force the police to
invoke the criminal process selectively." 9
such poor drafting that facilitates the classification of these knives as weapons.
edition of Australian Blade, the Commonwealth government permits the import of these knives and
recognises:
mountaineering and hiking.” 10
7 Bronitt and Stenning, Understanding discretion in modern policing (2011) 35 Crim LJ 319 at page 320.
9 Ibid.
the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 –
and Weapons.”