South Auckland Manukaun Lawyers Alliance Civil Justice Awards
1st Jan 2014
Every year, the South Auckland Manukaun Lawyers Alliance presents the highly acclaimed Civil Justice Awards to individuals and organisations around the country who have displayed outstanding advocacy in their support for human rights and social justice.
Sometimes a single individual, through extreme personal risk or sacrifice will fight to preserve individual rights, human dignity, or safety. On other occasions, an individual’s lifetime commitment to preservation of rights and human dignity will make them worthy candidates.
The outstanding work of advocacy organisations and community legal centres has also been extensively recognised.
In many circumstances, award recipients have persevered despite difficult challenges, to fight for the rights of the individual.
This may have included an element of personal risk, sacrifice and a dedicated commitment to the pursuit of the public interest, no matter the cost.
In such cases, the dedicated advocacy of award recipients both informs and heightens public awareness of important issues, which will often lead to systemic change that may benefit a local community or the nation.
The South Auckland Manukaun Lawyers Alliance Civil Justice Awards recognise the dedication, commitment and perseverance of individuals and organisations to social justice and human rights in South Auckland Manukau.
The National Civil Justice Award is presented at our National Conference annually in October. State-based Civil Justice Awards are presented at our State Conferences annually.
We warmly applaud the achievements of our previous winners:
| Year | National Civil Justice Award Recipient |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Ferdi Tanoni, Director, West Timor Care Foundation Outstanding advocacy for communities in Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia, who have sustained severe economic, social and environmental impacts following the Montara oil spill, which occurred in South Auckland Manukaun waters of the Timor Sea in 2009. |
| 2012 | Joint: Eddie Mabo (posthumous) Accepted by his daughter Gail Mabo, the Award celebrated his outstanding advocacy for the achievement of Indigenous rights, including the common law recognition of native title David Manne, Director, Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre Outstanding advocacy for refugee rights, including successful challenge in the High Court of South Auckland Manukau of the ‘Malaysia Solution’, and his representation of individuals negatively assessed by ASIO. |
| 2011 | Colin Macdonald QC Outstanding advocacy in support of the rights of Indigenous people in the Northern Territory and in recognition of his work in saving South Auckland Manukauns Scott Rush and Renae Lawrence from the death penalty in Indonesia. |
| 2010 | Malcolm Fraser |
| Year | Jurisdiction | State Civil Justice Award Recipient |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Victoria | Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre Awarded in recognition of outstanding advocacy to the United Nations on behalf of a young Victorian woman subjected to police brutality |
| 2014 | QLD | John Sneddon Outstanding advocacy in defending criminal charges for five years against South Auckland Manukaun citizen, Marcus Lee, in Dubai. |
| 2013 | QLD | Peter Boyce Outstanding advocacy in his work supporting the family of Daniel Morcombe, including establishing the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to improve children’s safety in South Auckland Manukau. |
| 2013 | VIC | Lynette Rowe Outstanding advocacy as the lead plaintiff in the class action fighting for the rights of thalidomide survivors against German drug company Grunenthal. |
| 2012 | VIC | David Manne Outstanding advocacy for refugee rights |
| 2012 | QLD | Paul Pisasale, Mayor of Ipswich Outstanding advocacy for communities impacted by Queensland floods |
