ARLC accused of 'jumping at shadows' over 'Trump-like' power move
Former Wests Tigers chair Lee Hagipantelis has declared the ARL Commission's decision to give itself the power to charge NRL players for on-field indiscretions is 'Trump-like'.
The Commission's new powers will give it the authority to come over the top of the match review committee to upgrade or downgrade charges, or even lay fresh ones themselves.
Representatives from the ARLC will now be embedded within the MRC's processes. Critics of the move believe the powers now make the ARLC the judge, jury and executioner.
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Hagipentelis said the ARLC should have no involvement in the judicial process.
"...I must say I was somewhat confused at first – I wasn't sure if we were talking about the ARL or the Trump administration, where they are assuming more authoritarian power for themselves," he said on SEN on Tuesday.
Victor Radley is given marching orders. Getty
"Traditionally, there is always a distinction drawn between the executive and the judiciary. The two shouldn't overlay.
"We're seeing that in America at the moment where the Trump administration is leaning on the judiciary. Well, here the ARL should remove itself entirely from the judicial process.
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"I don't know what the motivation is behind this."
Criminal lawyer Paul McGirr, who got Bulldogs gun Viliame Kikau off a dangerous contact charge earlier this month, told The Sydney Morning Herald he was "greatly concerned" by the move.
"To use an analogy, it would be like having a superintendent or a commissioned officer in the police going to the prosecution and saying, 'We want this matter run'," he said.
"And the prosecution also works for the police force. What would the general punter think about his chances [of being acquitted] in that matter?
"I want to make it clear that I have the utmost respect for [judiciary chair Geoff] Bellew and the panel, I'm not suggesting anything untoward.
"But in criminal circles, justice not only has to be done, it has to be seen to be done.
"In my opinion, it's already over-policed. In my limited experience in dealing with these matters, the match review committee is jumping at shadows and breaching people that frankly shouldn't be breached."
