Crimes (Overseas) (Declared Foreign Countries) Amendment Regulations 2004 (No. 2) 2004 No. 140
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules 2004 No. 140
Minute No. of 2004 - Minister for Justice and Customs
Subject - Crimes (Overseas) Act 1964
Crimes (Overseas) (Declared Foreign Countries) Amendment Regulations 2004 (No. 2)
Section 9 of the Crimes (Overseas) Act 1964 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
The Act extends the criminal law of the Jervis Bay Territory extraterritorially over various groups of Australians working in foreign countries. One of these groups is Australians working in a foreign country where that foreign country has been declared by regulation to be a declared foreign country for the purposes of the Act.
Paragraph 3C(1)(b) of the Act states that the regulations may provide that a foreign country is a declared foreign country for the purposes of the Act in relation to a specified category of persons. Subsection 3C(3) provides that the regulations must specify the day on which the foreign country is to start being a declared foreign country, and the day on which the foreign country is to cease being a declared foreign country for the purposes of the Act.
The Crimes (Overseas) (Declared Foreign Countries) Regulations 2003 prescribe countries for the purposes of section 3C of the Act. Currently, Iraq, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea are declared foreign countries under the Act.
The Australian Federal Police deployed two officers to Jordan on 31 May 2004 to provide police training to Iraqi personnel. While these officers have certain immunities under Jordanian law until 30 June 2004, it is not yet evident whether they will continue to have these immunities after 30 June 2004. To ensure Australia is able to exercise jurisdiction over its officers, it is necessary to declare Jordan to be a declared foreign country for the purposes of the Act.
The purpose of the Regulations is to declare Jordan to be a declared foreign country for the purposes of the Act from 30 June 2004 and ceasing at the end of 30 June 2006.
The Regulations apply the Act to a person in relation to an act or omission if the person is an Australian undertaking a task or project or performing a function on behalf of the Commonwealth, or pursuant to commitments or directions given by or on terms determined by the Commonwealth in Jordan where that person falls into a specific category of persons. The specified category is the category of persons each of whom is an Australian Federal Police employee who is deployed to Jordan to assist in providing police training to Iraqi personnel.
The Regulations specify that the declaration of Jordan takes effect on 30 June 2004. The declaration ceases on 30 June 2006, which is the likely end date of the planned training deployment to Jordan.
Subsection 3C(4) of the Act provides that before regulations are made for the purposes of subsection 3C(1), the Minister, after consulting the Minister for Foreign Affairs, must be satisfied that it is appropriate to do so having regard to whether this Act would apply to Australians in the foreign country even if the regulations were not made, the nature of the activities engaged in by Australians in the foreign country, the number of Australians likely to be engaging in those activities, the circumstances in which Australians engaging in activities in the foreign country are subject to or immune from the foreign country's criminal laws, and any other relevant matter.
The Minister was satisfied that it was appropriate to make the Regulations having regard to these factors. The Minister consulted the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who supported the making of the Regulations.
Details of the Regulations are as follows:
Regulation 1 names the Regulations.
Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations commence on gazettal.
Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 to the Regulations amends the Crimes (Overseas) (Declared Foreign Countries) Regulations 2003.
Schedule 1 declares Jordan to be a declared foreign country for the purposes of the Act, in relation to a specified category of persons from 30 June 2004 - 30 June 2006.
Authority: Section 9 of the Crimes (Overseas) Act 1964
Overview
The Crimes (Overseas) (Declared Foreign Countries) Amendment Regulations 2004 (No. 2) were enacted to address a gap in the extraterritorial application of Australian criminal law concerning Australians working in Jordan. This regulation was introduced under the authority of section 9 of the Crimes (Overseas) Act 1964, which empowers the Governor-General to make regulations necessary for carrying out or giving effect to the Act. The policy objective was to ensure that Australian officers deployed in Jordan for police training purposes would remain subject to Australian jurisdiction, particularly concerning their immunities under Jordanian law. The Regulations were enacted by the Australian Federal Government and took effect from 30 June 2004, with the declaration ceasing at the end of 30 June 2006. This timeframe aligns with the planned duration of the police training deployment. The Minister for Justice and Customs, after consulting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, determined that it was appropriate to declare Jordan as a declared foreign country under the Act to safeguard the interests of Australian personnel deployed there.
Scope and Application
The Crimes (Overseas) (Declared Foreign Countries) Amendment Regulations 2004 (No. 2) extends the application of the Crimes (Overseas) Act 1964 (the Act) to include Jordan as a declared foreign country from 30 June 2004 until 30 June 2006. This amendment ensures that Australian criminal law applies extraterritorially to Australian Federal Police employees deployed in Jordan to provide police training to Iraqi personnel. These Regulations apply specifically to Australian personnel who are performing functions on behalf of the Commonwealth in Jordan, particularly those involved in the police training activities. The amendment is limited to the specified category of Australian Federal Police employees and is intended to maintain jurisdictional reach over these individuals, ensuring that Australian law can be enforced even if they lose certain immunities under Jordanian law post-30 June 2004. The declaration of Jordan as a declared foreign country under the Act is a temporary measure aligned with the expected duration of the training deployment.
Key Provisions
The main operative sections of the Crimes (Overseas) (Declared Foreign Countries) Amendment Regulations 2004 (No. 2) (the Regulations) are Regulation 3 and Schedule 1. Regulation 3 provides that the Regulations commence on the day they are registered, while Schedule 1 declares Jordan to be a declared foreign country for the purposes of the Crimes (Overseas) Act 1964 (the Act) in relation to a specified category of persons from 30 June 2004 to 30 June 2006. This means that the Act will apply to Australian Federal Police employees who are deployed to Jordan to provide police training to Iraqi personnel, during the period specified in the Schedule.
The Regulations impose certain obligations and requirements on the parties and entities they govern. Specifically, they require that the Act be applied to Australian Federal Police employees who are deployed to Jordan to provide police training to Iraqi personnel, during the period specified in the Schedule. This means that these individuals will be subject to Australian criminal law while they are in Jordan, even if they commit an offence that would not be an offence under Jordanian law. Additionally, the Regulations require that the Minister for Justice and Customs consult with the Minister for Foreign Affairs before making any regulations under the Act.
Failure to comply with the Regulations may result in offences, penalties, or other consequences. However, the explanatory statement does not provide specific details on the nature of these consequences. It is possible that breaches of the Regulations may result in criminal charges or civil penalties, depending on the circumstances of the breach. It is also possible that the Regulations may provide for specific offences and penalties that are not mentioned in the explanatory statement.
Overall, the Regulations serve to extend the extraterritorial application of Australian criminal law to Australian Federal Police employees who are deployed to Jordan to provide police training to Iraqi personnel. By doing so, the Regulations ensure that these individuals are subject to Australian criminal law while they are in Jordan, and that Australia is able to exercise jurisdiction over its officers in this context. The Regulations also impose certain obligations and requirements on the parties and entities they govern, and may result in offences, penalties, or other consequences for non-compliance.