“Queensland’s Court of Appeal has declared unconstitutional the Newman Government’s recent laws about sex offenders that gave the Executive Government power to override Court decisions. See Attorney-General (Qld) v Lawrence [2013] QCA 364 and Attorney-General (Qld) v Fardon [2013] QCA 365. The unconstitutional laws are ss.3 and 6 of the Criminal Law Amendment (Public Interest Declarations) Amendment Act 2013 (Qld). The cases concerned two sex offenders held in custody under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld) (DPSOA). The laws were introduced with promises to make Queensland’s sex offender laws the toughest in the nation and criticism of judges for not meeting community expectations. The Explanatory Notes to the Bill said that the Court was concerned only with whether an offender presented an unacceptable risk of committing another serious sexual offence. The...