Meredith v NSW (No 5) [2025] NSWSC 1133
M headed a class action for assault [etc] after she was strip searched by police for drugs at a music festival. Were the searches ‘necessary’ in terms of the ‘seriousness and urgency of the circumstances’14?
Necessary means ‘absolutely necessary’, and urgency indicates a situation ‘requiring immediate action or attention’. The main interpretation point was that powers restricting personal liberty ‘must be strictly construed’15 – cf Episode 123. Yehia J noted that M was 27 at the time, had no criminal record and ‘was subjected to particularly humiliating treatment while at a total loss of liberty’. The searches were unlawful and damages set at $93K. An appeal is pending.
This principle is from Episode 126 of interpretation NOW!
Footnotes:
14 s 31 Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW).
15 [184-193], Zavarinos [2004] NSWCA 320 [23], Williams 161 CLR 278 (292).