Finks bikie club loses High Court challenge to Queensland law THE High Court has cleared the way for police in Queensland to continue with their bid to have a bikie gang declared a criminal organisation, ruling that state laws did not infringe on the constitution. In a unanimous decision, the court upheld the validity of the state's Criminal Organisation Act 2009, saying provisions in the law were "not inconsistent with the institutional integrity" of the Queensland Supreme Court. Assistant Commissioner Michael Condon applied in June last year to the Supreme Court to have the Gold Coast chapter of the Finks Motor Cycle Club declared a criminal organisation, saying the gang had a "Finks terror team" whose major function was to extort money. Midway through the application, the case was referred to the High Court, where lawyers for the Finks argued the legislation was unconstitutional. They argued that allowing police to provide evidence to support the application in closed hearings to protect sources and avoid prejudicing future investigations meant that "criminal intelligence will be kept secret from the respondents." The court heard that these secret hearing provisions of the act denied "procedural fairness to a respondent" and this infringed on the constitution. But the High Court, led by Chief Justice Robert French, ruled the laws do not impair the "essential characteristics" of the Supreme Court and this did not impact on the constitution. "The court held that while the provisions may depart from the usual incidents of procedure and judicial process, the Supreme Court nonetheless retains its capacity to act fairly and impartially," the judgment summary read. The judgment comes after South Australian and NSW governments had anti-bikie laws struck down by the High Court on the grounds that they were unconstitutional.