“It breaches a fundamental principle of a separation of powers and it's the executive which is stepping on the role which fundamentally should be played by courts and that is determining the appropriate sentence for people to be detained,” he said. “It is a fundamental principal of the operation of criminal law and sentencing that the sentence imposed on individuals meet the nature of the crime. “What the mandatory nature of sentencing does, is it takes away the ability of courts to be able to determine what is an appropriate sentence in particular circumstances. The Human Rights Law Centre is the latest in a line of critics to question the recent legislation and the cross over between the judiciary and the government. However, Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie and Premier Campbell Newman have both said they are doing what the community expects and plan on doing whatever it takes to chase criminal motorcycle gangs out of Queensland.

They expect the laws to be challenged in the courts and have repeatedly said they would keep changing the legislation, which was drafted, introduced and passed by the Queensland Parliament in just over two weeks, until they get it right. But Mr Schokman questioned whether the shock and awe tactics contained within the legislation would have the desired effect. “On the one hand, there is obviously a very important role that Parliament has to play, between protecting the community and promoting community safety and on the other hand, taking measures that respect the fundamental human rights of individuals,” he said. “In terms of the recent laws that we have seen, I think that the balance is quite askew. Not only are there human rights concerns of the [way] potentially innocent people within the community will be treated, there is also serious questions about the effectiveness of these laws and whether or not they will achieve their stated aims.” Members of the Brisbane Centro Bandidos handed in their colours and patches en masse late last week, sending their resignation to the national chapter via their Brisbane lawyer, with more to come.

But some police and legal sources have seen the public resignations as no more than a publicity stunt. At least eight people, identified by police to be members of criminal motorcycle gangs, have been charged under the new laws in the past few days. Most have been released on bail, despite one of the legislation's provisions making it harder for those charged under the new laws to receive bail. Legal challenges to the laws are already being prepared. Mr Schokman said if any prepared challenge reached the High Court, it would be a case to watch. Loading

“Where there is a concern is when the role is taken out of the hands of courts and placed in the hands of politicians and certainly from both a process and an outcome prospective, that's where major human rights concerns arise,” he said. “Given the recent trends of the high court to question the expanded role that is played by the executive and we have seen that, for example in cases to related to the high court overturning the Malaysia solution and the ability for asylum seekers to be able to access legal assistance, it will be interesting to see how the high court views these recent reforms by the Queensland government.”