Australian Customs - can they board your yacht without permission?

1:12 AM Thu 28 Oct 2010 GMT

'Customs vessels - confusion about when they can board without permission' . Click Here to view large photo

If you are spending a lazy weekend on a yacht, or sailing between ports, or if you have just arrived from overseas, can Australian Customs board your yacht to make a search without your permission and without a warrant? According to civil liberties lawyer Terry O'Gorman, the answer from the Australian Customs cannot be an s an unequivocal 'YES!' The publisher of one boating magazine The Coastal Passage, Bob Norson told Kate Dennehy of the Sydney Morning Herald that while some yacht owners thought it fair that customs officers boarded boats when they had suspicions of criminal activity, many believed ...

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by Sail-World Roundup