Source: https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;id=chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2004-08-11%2F0204;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2004-08-11%2F0063%22
Timestamp: 2019-10-14 15:49:20
Document Index: 2741953

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 2', 'art 2', 'art 9', 'art 13', 'art 13', 'art 5']

ParlInfo - QUESTIONS ON NOTICE : Genocide Convention: Proposed Legislation
chamber/hansardr/2004-08-11/0204
Ms Roxon asked the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 18 February 2004:
(1)	Would he update the information provided in his answer to question No. 201 (Hansard, 28 June 1999, page 7660) concerning legislation to implement the 1948 Genocide Convention.
(2)	Which international instruments have been implemented by Commonwealth legislation since the answer to question No. 874 (Hansard, 9 December 1999, page 13413).
Mr Ruddock (Attorney-General) —The answer to the honourable member's questions is as follows:
In relation to the first question:
I noted in my earlier response to this question that the Government was advised that the common law and criminal codes of the States and Territories provide adequate punishment for a number of acts prohibited by the 1948 Genocide Convention.
That remains the case. I am nevertheless pleased to tell Parliament that Genocide is now explicitly a criminal offence under Australian domestic law.
Division 268 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 proscribes genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes against the administration of justice of the international criminal court. These offences operate prospectively from 26 September 2002 and apply to conduct both within and outside Australia. They carry severe penalties. All genocide offences attract life imprisonment. Penalties for crimes against humanity range from 17 years to life imprisonment. War crimes offences attract penalties ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.
Legislation in place prior to the Criminal Code amendment, and still operational, is the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 (Cth), which provides for universal jurisdiction over “grave breaches” of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol 1 of 1977 when those acts are committed in the course of an international armed conflict. Persons can be prosecuted regardless of their nationality and regardless of where the alleged offence occurred. The International Criminal Court (Consequential Amendments) Act 2002 repealed Part 2 of the Geneva Conventions Act as the crimes Part 2 created are now covered by Division 268 of the Criminal Code.
In relation to the second question:
I am informed that the following Acts passed by the Federal Parliament since 1999 expressly implemented international instruments. Included under the name of each Act is a brief explanation setting out the relevant international instrument.
Industrial Chemicals (Notification and Assessment) Amendment (Rotterdam Convention) Act 2004 (No 14 of 2004)
This Act amends the Industrial Chemicals (Notification and Assessment) Act 1989 to give effect to Australia's obligations under the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. The Act establishes a system of notification and assessment of industrial chemicals to protect health, safety and the environment. It also provides for registration of certain persons proposing to introduce industrial chemicals into Australia and allows for Australia to comply with obligations under international agreements.
Customs Amendment Act (No 1) 2003 (No 62 of 2003)
This Act amends the Customs Act 1901 with a view to achieving two main purposes.
The first is to give effect to the Government's decision to grand duty-free access to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and East Timor, in accordance with the Doha Ministerial Declaration in November 2001 that World Trade Organisation Members should work towards duty-free access for LDCs. The amendments contained in Schedule 1 of the Act provide rules for determining whether goods are the produce or manufacture of LDCs. The amendments provide for the duty-free entry of goods that meet these rules.
The second is to give effect to the duty-free entry of goods under the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). SAFTA is a comprehensive and wide-ranging agreement that provides Singapore and Australia with more liberal access to each other's goods, services and investment markets. The amendments in the Act provide rules for determining whether goods are the produce or manufacture of Singapore and allow for duty-free entry of goods meeting these rules. The amendments also impose obligations on exporters of Australian goods for which a preferential rate of tariff will be claimed to Singapore, and on people who manufacture or produce such goods.
Australian Protective Security Amendment Act 2003 (No 128 of 2003)
The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that the Australian Protective Service has adequate powers and capabilities to support its functions of providing protective security services. The Act provides new powers for protective service officers undertaking protective security functions to request a person's name, evidence of identification, address and reason for being in a place, or in the vicinity of a place, person or thing they are protecting. The Act also introduces powers to stop, detain and search a person who is in the place, or in the vicinity of the place, person or thing, and a new power to seize things found on persons who are searched, if those things are likely to be used to cause death or serious harm to a person, or a person in a place, or in the vicinity of a person, place or thing that the Australian Protective Service is protecting.
Civil Aviation Legislation Amendment Act 2003 (No 83 of 2003)
This legislation makes a number of amendments to the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the CAA) to facilitate ongoing review of civil aviation regulations and to provide for the simplification and international harmonisation of Australia's civil aviation regulatory regime.
One important amendment to the CAA is that relating to “Article 83bis agreements” (Item 4 of Schedule 1 of the Act). The Act transfers to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), from the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, the function of entering into so-called `Article 83bis agreements' with the national airworthiness authorities of other countries. Under the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Chicago 1944 (the Chicago Convention) a State party to the Convention is generally responsible for the safety regulation of aircraft on that State's register, irrespective of where the aircraft is in the world. Some obvious difficulties in administering safety regulations arise when an aircraft registered in one country is operated in another for a substantial period. Article 83bis is a relatively recent addition to the Chicago Convention, and enables the transfer of safety regulatory functions from the State of registration of an aircraft to the State in which the aircraft is to operate, on agreement of both States. The International Civil Aviation Organisation considers that such agreements should be made between the relevant national airworthiness authorities, as they are administrative instruments of less than treaty status.
Customs Tariff Amendment Act (No 1) (No 63 of 2003)
add East Timor to the list of Developing Countries
define Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and provide for the duty-free entry of goods originating in LDCs and East Timor
provide for the duty-free entry of goods originating in Singapore in accordance with the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), and
implement related amendments to the Tariff.
The Act is complementary to the Customs Amendment Act (No 1) 2003.
International Tax Agreements Amendment Act 2003 (No 123 of 2003)
a Convention between the Government of Australia and the Government of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital Gains (2003 United Kingdom convention), and the associated Exchange of Notes (2003 United Kingdom notes); and
an Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the United Mexican States for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income, and the Protocol thereto (Mexican agreement).
This Act will also clarify within the Agreements Act that references in Australian tax treaties to income from shares, or to income from other rights participating in profits, shall not be taken to include a return on a debt interest.
Maritime Transport Security Act 2003 (No 131 of 2003)
This legislation is designed to enhance maritime transport security by:
establishing a maritime transport security regulatory framework, and providing for adequate flexibility within this framework to reflect a changing threat environment;
implements the mandatory requirements in Chapter XI-2 and the International Ship and Port Facility (ISPS) Code of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention 1974, to ensure that Australia is aligned with the international maritime transport security regime;
ensuring that identified Australian ports, port facilities within them, and other maritime industry participants operate with approved maritime security plans;
ensuring that certain types of Australian ships operate with approved ship security plans;
issuing International Ship Security Certificates (ISSCs) to Australian ships which have been security verified so that these ships will be able to enter ports in other SOLAS Contracting Countries; and
undertaking control mechanisms to impose control directions on foreign ships that are not compliant with the relevant maritime security requirements in this Act.
Non-Proliferation Legislation Amendment Act 2003 (No 132 of 2003)
This Act strengthens Australia's arrangements for the protection of, and application of non-proliferation safeguards to, nuclear material, facilities and associated information. It enables Australia to bring into force legislation banning nuclear weapon tests ahead of entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). It provides also for machinery changes to improve the application of non-proliferation measures.
The Act amends the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987 to:
strengthen procedures to protect information relevant to proliferation of nuclear weapons and to the physical security of nuclear material;
ensure that regulatory arrangements apply to any material specially suited for use in nuclear activities, or the production of nuclear explosive devices;
require a permit for activity to establish a nuclear installation;
create offences for unauthorised access to an area specified in a permit for the possession or transport of nuclear material or associated items, and for causing damage to an installation or mechanism intended to protect nuclear material or associated items;
bring penalty provisions into line with current legislative practice.
The Act amends the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Act 1998 to:
enable the proclamation of key provisions of the Act ahead of entry-into-force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, and
revise provisions dealing with on-site inspection so that they better reflect the practical requirements of such an inspection.
Ozone Protection (Licence Fees - Imports) Amendment Act 2003 (No. 124 of 2003)
This Act allows regulations to be made that set the amount of levy that is payable by importers of substances that require a Controlled Substances Licence under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989. The levy is collected to recover the Commonwealth's costs associated with assisting industry phase-out their consumption of the ozone depleting substances (ODS) hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and methyl bromide as well as minimise their emissions of these ODS and specific synthetic greenhouse gases (SGG) used as replacements to ODS.
Licences issued under the Ozone Protection Act are a means of reducing Australian consumption of ODS in line with, and in some cases ahead of, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 1987 to phase out requirements for controlled ODS.
Ozone Protection (Licence Fees - Manufacture) Amendment Act 2003 (No. 125 of 2003)
This Act enables the creation of regulations that set the amount of levy payable by manufacturers of substances that require a Controlled Substances Licence under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989. The levy is collected to recover the Commonwealth's costs associated with assisting industry phase-out its consumption and possible production of the ozone depleting substances (ODS) hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and methyl bromide as well as minimise their emissions of these ODS and specific synthetic greenhouse gases (SGG) used as replacements to ODS.
Licences issued under the Ozone Protection Act are a means of reducing Australian consumption of ODS in line with, and in some cases ahead of, Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 1987 to phase out requirements for controlled ODS.
Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Legislation Amendment Act 2003 (No. 126 of 2003)
This legislation introduced new controls on substances that have detrimental environmental impacts upon the global atmosphere - ozone-depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases used as alternatives to ozone depleting substances. These controls were introduced for the purpose of implementation of Australia's obligations to minimise the consumption and emission of these substances under the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Passenger Movement Charge (Timor Sea Treaty) Amendment Act 2003 (No 11 of 2003)
This Act amends the Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978 due to changes consequent to the introduction of the Petroleum (Timor Sea Treaty) Act 2003.
The changes to the Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978 effected by the Act are of a purely technical nature and will not alter existing arrangements. Most simply they reflect the change of name of the area formerly referred to in Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978 as “Area A” (which is reference to the former Zone of Cooperation Area A situated in the waters between Australia and East Timor) to the “Joint Petroleum Development Area”.
This change of name is required as a result of the ratification by Australia and East Timor of the Timor Sea Treaty, which was signed by the Prime Minister on behalf of Australia on 20 May 2002 and which replaces the former Timor Gap Treaty.
Petroleum (Timor Sea Treaty) Act 2003 (No 9 of 2003)
This Act gives effect to the Timor Sea Treaty between Australia and East Timor. The Treaty provides a framework for the exploration, development and exploitation of the petroleum resources in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) created by the Treaty. The Timor Sea Treaty contains three Articles that relate specifically to taxation matters as well as the Taxation Code that forms Annex G to the Treaty. These are Article 5 (Fiscal arrangements and taxes), Article 6 (Regulatory bodies) and Article 13 (Application of taxation law).
The Act gives effect to Article 6 of the Treaty by enabling the Ministerial Council, the Joint Commission and the Designated Authority (DA) to exercise certain rights and responsibilities of Australia in relation to the exploration, development and exploitation of petroleum resources in the JPDA. In effect, Australia will apply its tax system to 10% of the income derived in the JPDA and East Timor will apply its tax system to 90% of this income. These percentages, together referred to in Article 1 of Annex G to the Treaty as the `framework percentage', reflect the share of petroleum produced in the JPDA which belongs to each Contracting State under Article 4 of the Treaty.
Petroleum (Timor Sea Treaty) (Consequent ional Amendments) Act 2003 (No 11 of 2003)
This legislation gives effect to provisions contained in certain Articles of the Timor Sea Treaty relating to criminal jurisdiction, customs, employment regulation, migration, quarantine, income tax and fringe benefits tax. The Act also repeals the Petroleum (Australia-Indonesia Zone of Cooperation) Act 1990.
In most cases, the consequential amendments to the various Acts are relatively minor - in many instances they merely amend the relevant Act by using expressions such as “Joint Petroleum Development Area” where “Area A of the Zone of Cooperation” or simply “Area A” previously appeared, as is the case in the Migration Act 1958 or Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 amongst others. In the case of amendments to tax-related Acts, the changes are in some cases more detailed. For example, for instance amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 apply transfer pricing provisions to transactions between Australia and areas such as the JPDA where Australia has a shared allocation of taxing rights with another country.
Crimes Legislation Amendment (People Smuggling, Firearms Trafficking and other Measures) Act 2002 (No 141 of 2002)
This Act inserts new provisions into the Criminal Code Act 1995 to criminalise the smuggling of persons from Australia to another country, or from a country other than Australia to a third country, with or without transit through Australia. Where there is no transit through Australia, the offences apply where the person who organised or facilitated the smuggling either engaged in that conduct in Australia or is an Australian citizen or resident. The Act prohibits the making, providing or possessing of false travel or identity documents intended for use in securing the unlawful entry of a person into a foreign country, and taking possession of or destroying another person's travel or identity documents.
In addition the Act makes it an offence to take or send a firearm from one State or Territory to another in the course of trade and commerce between States and Territories, intending that the firearm will be disposed of in the other State and in circumstances that would constitute an offence against the firearm law of that other State or Territory. The Act also makes a number of minor amendments to the theft and fraud offences in the Criminal Code Act 1995, Crimes Act 1914, Crimes (Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act 1990, International Transfer of Prisoners Act 1997 and Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988. The people smuggling offences and all but one of the associated document offences are based on the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, to which Australia is a signatory.
Criminal Code Amendment (Suppression of Terrorist Bombings) Act 2002 (No 58 of 2002)
This Act amends the Criminal Code Act 1995 (the Criminal Code) by inserting a new division, Division 72 - International terrorist activities using explosive or lethal devices, into the Criminal Code. The effect of Division 72 is to make it an offence to place bombs or other lethal devices in prescribed places with the intention of causing death or serious harm or causing extensive destruction which would cause major economic loss. This gives effect to the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings.
The Act prescribes a penalty of life imprisonment for persons who are convicted of offences under Division 72. Proceedings for an offence under Division 72 must not commence without the written consent of the Attorney-General. In addition, the Act amends the Extradition Act 1988 to ensure that offences in the Act shall not be regarded, for the purposes of extradition, as political offences.
Family Law Amendment (Child Protection Convention) Act 2002 (No 69 of 2002)
This Act gives effect to Australia's obligations under the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children 1996 (2003 ATS 19). Item 26 of the Act inserts a copy of the text of the Convention in a schedule to the Family Law Act 1975.
The Convention establishes conflict of law rules to be applied in parental responsibility litigation which has an international aspect. These rules govern questions on whether a court has jurisdiction to hear an international parental responsibility dispute, which country's law is to be applied in determining international parental responsibility disputes, what conditions must be satisfied to ensure international recognition and enforcement of parenting orders and what obligations courts in Australia and overseas have to co-operate in the protection of children.
International Criminal Court Act 2002 (No 41 of 2002)
The International Criminal Court Act 2002 ensures Australia's compliance with its international obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (the Statute) (2002 ATS 15). The Statute establishes a permanent International Criminal Court (the ICC) to try individuals accused of “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole”, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (Article 5). The ICC will also try individuals accused of the crime of aggression, once the States that are parties to the Statute agree upon a definition of aggression. The Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002.
The Statute contains obligations on State Parties to it to `cooperate fully with the Court in its investigation and prosecution of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court' (Article 86). The obligations to cooperate with the ICC are contained in Part 9 of the Statute, and include, for example, requests for the arrest or provisional arrest of a person and the surrender of a person to the ICC; identification and location of a person or items; taking or producing evidence, including expert reports; and questioning any person being investigated or prosecuted.
This Act contains provisions allowing Australia to comply with its international obligations on ratification by putting in place procedures to comply with requests for assistance or the enforcement of sentences. The Act also contains provisions to ensure Australian sovereignty is protected. In particular, it affirms the primacy of Australian law and declares that no person can be arrested on a warrant issued by the Court or surrendered to the Court without the consent of the Attorney General.
International Criminal Court (Consequential Amendments) Act 2002 (No 42 of 2002)
This Act amends Division 268 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Criminal Code) to ensure Australia's compliance with the provisions of the Rome Statute.
The Act creates offences in Australia that are the equivalent of the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Rome Statute, so that Australia retains the right and power to prosecute any person accused of a crime under the Statute in Australia rather than surrender that person for trial in the International Criminal Court. It also create offences in Australia relating to crimes against the administration of justice of the International Criminal Court and establishes various legal principles to be applied in prosecuting these offences, such as command responsibility, the defence of superior orders and the primacy of Australia's jurisdiction.
The Act also makes consequential amendments to the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983, the Geneva Conventions Act 1957, the Migration Act 1958, the Telecommunications (Interceptions) Act 1979 and the Witness Protection Act 1994.
International Tax Agreements Amendment Act (No 1) 2002 (No 59 of 2002)
This Act amends the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 to give effect to certain tax treaties that generally relieve double taxation and provide certainty as to the applicable tax rules in particular international transactions. The purpose of the Act is to give the force of law in Australia to the following treaties:
an Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Russian Federation for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income; and
a Protocol amending the Convention on 6 August 1982 between the Government of Australia and the Government of the United States of America for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income.
International Tax Agreements Amendment Act (No 2) 2002 (No 129 of 2002)
This legislation amends the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 which operates to give effect to certain tax treaties that generally relieve double taxation and provide certainty as to the applicable tax rules in particular international transactions. The purpose of the Act is to give the force of law in Australia to the following treaties:
a Protocol amending the Convention of 21 May 1980 between the Government of Australia and the Government of Canada for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income (the Canadian Convention); and
a Second Protocol amending the Agreement of 20 August 1980 between the Government of Australia and the Government of Malaysia for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income (the Malaysian Agreement).
Migration Legislation Amendment (Transitional Movement) Act 2002 (No 10 of 2002)
Since September 2001 persons attempting to enter Australia unlawfully by boat have been taken to Nauru or Papua New Guinea, where any claims for protection are being assessed. The Migration Legislation Amendment (Transitional Movement) Act 2002 allows for a small number of exceptional situations where it may be necessary to bring one of these people (`transitory persons') to Australia. These situations include medical treatment, trials at which the person is to provide evidence in the prosecution of people smugglers; or transit through Australia, either to return to their country of origin or to a third country.
The definition makes clear that `transitory person' does not include a person who has been assessed to be a refugee under the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (the Convention) (1954 ATS 5).
However, section 198C entitles certain transitory persons to make a request to the Refugee Review Tribunal for an assessment of whether the person is covered by the definition of refugee in Article 1A of the Convention. A transitory person who is brought to Australia and remains in Australia for a continuous period of 6 months is entitled to make such a request
Plant Breeder's Rights Amendment Act 2002 (No 148 of 2002)
This legislation was enacted to ensure Australia's compliance with the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants 1991 (UPOV 91) (2000 ATS 6). The Plant Breeder's Rights Amendment Act 2002 provides clarification to the current PBRA.
Section 11 of the PBRA establishes that the breeder has the right to disallow acts of production, reproduction, conditioning, offering for sale, sale, import, export, and stocking in relation to the propagating material of the plant variety. As an exemption to the provisions of section 11, section 18 does not require the breeder's authorisation for any action that enables propagating material to be used as either a food/fuel or for any other purpose that does not involve propagation.
The Amendment deletes section 18 and inserts a new provision to the effect that the breeder is able to exercise their right of authorisation for acts under section 11, except where that act is restricted by other Commonwealth, State or Territory legislation. When such legislation restricts the breeder's right and authorises a person to do an act that would normally be subject to the breeder's authorisation, equitable remuneration must be paid to the breeder. This amendment aligns the PBRA with UPOV 91 with the just outcome that the breeder is rewarded in such circumstances.
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (No 85 of 2002)
This Act implements Australia's obligations under the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. The Act also gives effect to Australia's obligations under the Council of Europe Money-Laundering Convention and other international instruments that deal with confiscating proceeds of crime.
The purpose of the Act is to deprive criminals of the proceeds and benefits gained from criminal conduct, and to prevent the re-investment of those proceeds and benefits in further criminal activities. The Act operates to:
enable the freezing and confiscation of property used in, intended to be used in or derived from terrorism offences;
establish a regime for confiscating unlawfully acquired property, without first requiring a conviction (which operates in addition to the conviction based confiscation regime); and
permit the forfeiture of any proceeds derived from the commercial exploitation of a person's notoriety in connection with committing a criminal offence.
Proceeds of Crime (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2002 (No 86 of 2002)
This Act supplements the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 by providing transitional provisions and making consequential amendments to other Commonwealth legislation as follows:
the money laundering offences in the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987 are repealed and replaced by new provisions in the Criminal Code Act 1995;
the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 is amended to include provisions which related to foreign orders and certain offences from the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987;
the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988 is amended to include the record retention provisions previously included in the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987;
the Bankruptcy Act 1966 and Family Law Act 1975 are amended to clarify the relationship between those Acts and proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002;
the Taxation Administration Act 1953 is amended to expand access by authorised law enforcement agencies to taxation information for the purpose of civil forfeiture investigations and proceedings;
the Telecommunications (Interception) Act 1979 is amended to enable the National Crime Authority to pass information gained through telephone interception to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (the DPP) and state and territory equivalents in conviction-based proceeds of crime proceedings;
the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 is amended such that decisions by the DPP and an approved examiner relating to the conduct of a compulsory examination under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are not subject to that Act; and
the Australian Federal Police Act 1979 is amended to specifically confer powers under the Proceeds of Crime legislation on the Australian Federal Police.
Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism Act 2002 (No 66 of 2002)
This Act implements Australia's obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
The Act amends the Criminal Code Act 1995, the Financial Transactions Reports Act 1988, the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 and the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945 to:
create an offence directed at those who provide or collect funds with the intention that they be used to facilitate terrorist activities;
require cash dealers to report transactions that are suspected to relate to terrorist activities;
enable the Director of the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, the Australian Federal Police Commissioner and the Director-General of Security to disclose financial transaction reports information directly to foreign countries, foreign law enforcement agencies and foreign intelligence agencies; and
introduce higher penalty offences for providing assets to, or dealing in assets of, persons and entities engaged in terrorist activities.
The purpose of this Act is to enable Schedule 1 of the International Monetary Agreements Act 1947 (the 1947 Act) to be amended to reflect a change in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) articles of agreement. Schedule 1 of the 1947 Act reproduces the IMF's articles of agreement.
The amendment to the IMF's articles of agreement provides for a special, one-time allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 21.43 billion. The one-time allocation is designed to ensure greater equity between IMF members in terms of their cumulative SDR allocations relative to their quotas in the IMF, at a benchmark level of 29.32 per cent. As a result of this process Australia received SDR213.5 million, or about $A500 million of additional reserves.
This Act amends the Australia New Zealand Food Authority Act 1991 to implement aspects of the new food regulatory system agreed to by all Australian jurisdictions. The amendments reflect many of the arrangements for the new system set out in the inter-governmental Food Regulation Agreement agreed to by members of the Council of Australian Governments on 3 November 2000.
This Act seeks to ensure that Australia complies with its obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Act repeals the Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982 and inserts a new Part 13A, `International movement of wildlife specimens' into the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The new Part 13A sets up a system for regulation the international movement of wildlife species. As part of this system, the Minister for the Environment is to establish a list of CITES species, which will be updated as necessary, to ensure that it reflects current CITES lists. The list is to include all the information that exporters, importers, the community and decision-makers will need to determine the status of a particular species, populations and products.
This Act amends the Spaces Activities Act 1988 to provide for the making of Regulations that will give effect to one or more of the provisions of the Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Russian Federation on Cooperation in the Field of Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purpose (the Agreement), done at Canberra on 23 May 2001. The Agreement provides a legal and organisational framework for the transfer of space technologies, equipment and expertise to the Australian commercial space launch industry. Key provisions include protection of intellectual and physical property, the exchange on information and the settlement of disputes.
The amendments include: the creation of a new Part 5A in the Space Activities Act 1988 which provides a framework for the implementation of specified space cooperation agreements; the inclusion of a power for the Governor-General to make Regulations for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Agreement; and the Scheduling of the Agreement to the Space Activities Act 1998.
This Act amends legislation relating to international maritime conventions.
Schedule 1 of the Act amends the Admiralty Act 1988, the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims Act 1989, and the Navigation Act 1912. These Acts are amended so as to give effect within Australia to the 1996 Protocol to amend the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims of 19 November 1976. The Protocol limits shipowners' liability.
Schedule 2 of the Act amends the Protection of the Sea (Powers of Intervention) Act 1981 so as to give effect within Australia to the Protocol Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Pollution by Substances other than Oil of 1973 as affected by Resolution MEPC.72(38) of the Marine Environment Protection Committee. The changes to the Act revise the list of chemicals in respect of which the Australian Maritime Safety Authority may take intervention action on the high seas, in the exclusive economic zone, or in the territorial sea.
Schedule 3 of the Act amends the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 which gives effect to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). Among other things the amendment removes the requirement to include the text of conventions in Schedules to the Act and insert requirements relating to the disposal of garbage found in Annex V or MARPOL.
Schedule 4 of the Act implements Australia's obligations arising under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea. The amendments make it an offence if a submarine cable or pipeline is damaged by an Australian-flagged ship in the exclusive economic zone or the high seas.
Timor Gap Treaty (Transitional Arrangements) Act (No 25 of 2000)
This Act has three main purposes. First, it makes consequential amendments to various Acts to reflect the fact that, on 26 October 1999, the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) replaced Indonesia as a party to the Timor Gap Treaty. This reflects the out come of the vote for independence by the East Timorese in August 1999. Second, it inserts the Notes exchanged between Australia and UNTAET on 10 February 2000 (the Notes) into the Petroleum (Australia-Indonesia Zone of Cooperation) Act 1990. The Notes are designed to reflect the administrative implications of the vote including, for instance, the substitution of UNTAET's Transitional Administrator as the competent authority to administer the Taxation Code established by the 1989 Timor Gap Treaty. Finally, the Act inserts into the Crimes at Sea Act 2000 a new Part titled `Cooperation between Australia and East Timor in the enforcement of criminal law', to reflect the two nations' agreement on the regulation of criminal offences committed in Area A of the Zone of Cooperation, which is defined in the Timor Gap Treaty.
Aviation Legislation Amendment Act (No 2) (No 48 of 2000)
This Act makes two amendments to the Civil Aviation Act 1988, pursuant to Australia's obligations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention) 1944. The first amendment enables the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to enter into certain agreements with national airworthiness authorities of other countries. These agreements allow Australia to transfer its responsibilities for particular safety regulatory functions under the Chicago Convention to another nation.
The second amendment relates to the Civil Aviation (Carriers' Liability) Act 1959 (the Carriers Act). This amendment was also designed to correct an anomaly in the Australian legislation regarding foreign charter operators consistent with Australia's international obligations under the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules relating to International Carriage by Air (the Warsaw Convention) 1929.
International Tax Agreements Amendment Act (No 1) (No 100 of 2000)
This Act adds two bilateral treaties on tax that Australia ratified to the schedule to the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 (Agreements Act). The schedule contains a comprehensive list of the double taxation agreements to which Australia is a party. The first taxation agreement added to the schedule is the Agreement between Australia and Romania for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income. The second is a protocol amending the Agreement between Australia and Finland for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and Protocol of 12 September 1984. The taxation agreement between Australia and Romania accords substantially with Australia's broad-ranging Double Taxation Agreements. The taxation agreement with Finland updates Finland's list of existing taxes to which the main taxation agreement between Australia and Finland applies; provides for a reciprocal dividend withholding tax exemption for fully franked dividends; and includes the latest methods adopted by Finland to eliminate double taxation.
Environment and Heritage Legislation Act (No 107 of 2000)
This Act amends the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981 (the Sea Dumping Act) to implement the 1996 Protocol (the Protocol) to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972. The Act also replaces the reference to `Australian fishing zone' in the Sea Dumping Act with `exclusive economic zone'. This will alter the geographical application of the Act. Until the amendments introduced by the Act, certain harmful sea dumping practices were not prohibited under the Sea Dumping Act, and did not reflect the new obligations undertaken by Australia in the Protocol.
Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act (No 110 of 2000)
There were new international standards to improve copyright protection in the online environment adopted in the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Copyright Treaty, and in the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. The Act implements the main obligations contained in the new WIPO treaties. Prominent among them is granting a new technology-neutral right of communication to the public. The new right replaces and extends the existing technology-specific broadcasting right, which currently only applies to `wireless' broadcasts. However, there are exceptions to it. These include extending the statutory licence scheme for educational institutions to permit them to make electronic copies of works and broadcasts, if payment is made to the copyright owners. The Act also creates remedies for the abuse of technological copyright protections measure, deliberate interference with rights management information, and unauthorised access to encoded broadcasts.
Trade Marks Amendment (Madrid Protocol) Act (no 117 of 2000)
This Act amends the Trade Marks Act 1995 to give effect to the provisions of the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol). The Madrid Protocol is a multilateral treaty developed under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and allows trade mark owners seeking protection for their marks in convention countries to do so by filing a single application and paying one set of fees. The Madrid Protocol Act enables the Governor-General to make such regulations as are necessary to give effect to the provisions of the Madrid Protocol. These might include specifying the procedure for dealing with applications for international registration of trade marks to the International Bureau of WIPO; the circumstances in which protection of an international registration ceases; and for cancellation of an international registration at Australia's request.
Protection of the Sea (Civil Liability) Amendment Act (No 122 of 2000)
This Act implements the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (the Civil Liability Treaty) and makes other improvements to the Australian sea pollution regime. The amendments to the Act require all ships over 4000 gross tons that enter or leave Australia to maintain insurance to cover the cost of a clean up resulting from the spillage of bunker fuel or oil. This goes further than Australia's obligations under the Civil Liability Treaty, as the latter only requires that ships of a certain weight that are registered in a convention country have pollution insurance. However, the change was seen as necessary given the increasing number of bunker fuel incidents and the difficulty in disposing of bunker fuel oils.
Criminal Code Amendment (United Nations and Associated Personnel) Act (No 124 of 2000)
This Act inserts a new Division into the Criminal Code Act 1995 to allow for the prosecution of offences committed against the United Nations and associated personnel under Commonwealth law. It implements the obligations under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel in Australia (the UN Convention), which obliges parties to prosecute persons who commit violent actions against the UN and associated workers in certain circumstances, as well as over offences by and against Australian citizens outside Australia. A person cannot be convicted for an offence created by the Act if there is a state or territory law that applies to and provides a criminal penalty for the conduct.