David Hicks and Australian Proceeds of Crime Legislation: Can He Sell his Story?

The detention of David Hicks by the United States in Guantánamo Bay detention camp was an event which attracted significant attention in the Australian community. By the time Mr Hicks’ detention in that facility ended in early 2007, newspapers and other media were reporting it daily, the voice of dissatisfaction among human rights organisations and the broader community was becoming insistent, and politicians were beginning to act. And the lawyers, of course, were far from silent.Since Mr Hicks pleaded guilty to the charge of ‘providing material support for terrorism', was repatriated from Guantánamo Bay to Yatala prison in Adelaide, and served out that portion of his sentence which was not suspended, the public debate surrounding his detention and treatment has died down. Some legal issues which the affair threw up, however, remain unresolved. One such issue is whether or not Mr Hicks can publicise his story for profit. Determining this issue requires analysis of Australian proceeds of crime legislation, and consideration of the circumstances in which it would prevent Mr Hicks profiting from publication of his story. It is this task which this paper takes up.