CUSTOMS TARIFF VALIDATION.
No. 51 of 1936.
An Act to provide for the Validation of Collections of Duties of Customs under Customs Tariff Proposals.
[Assented to 19th November, 1936.]
BE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows :—
Short title.
1. This Act may be cited as the Customs Tariff Validation Act 1936.
Validation of collections under Tariff proposals.
2. All duties of Customs demanded or collected, on or before the seventh day of December, One thousand nine hundred and thirty-six, pursuant to the Customs Tariff proposals introduced into the House of Representatives on the twenty-second day of May, One thousand nine hundred and thirty-six, shall be deemed to have been lawfully imposed and lawfully demanded or collected.
Overview
The Customs Tariff Validation Act 1936 was enacted to address a specific issue related to the collection of customs duties under certain tariff proposals. Assented to on 19th November 1936, the Act was passed by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia. Its primary objective was to validate the collections of duties of customs that had been demanded or collected prior to a specified date, in accordance with tariff proposals introduced earlier in the year. The Act ensures that all such duties collected before 7th December 1936 are deemed to have been lawfully imposed and collected, thereby providing clarity and legal certainty for those involved in the customs process during that period.
Scope and Application
The Customs Tariff Validation Act 1936 applies to all duties of Customs that were demanded or collected on or before the seventh day of December 1936, in accordance with the Customs Tariff proposals introduced into the House of Representatives on the twenty-second day of May 1936. This Act provides a legal framework to validate such collections, ensuring they were lawfully imposed, demanded, and collected. It operates at the Commonwealth level, thereby affecting all entities and individuals subject to customs duties under the specified timeframe and conditions. The Act does not explicitly state any exclusions or exemptions, implying that it broadly applies to all relevant duties collected during the designated period unless otherwise specified by subordinate instruments. The Act’s scope is thus comprehensive, encompassing all customs duties collected under the mentioned Tariff proposals within the specified date range, thereby solidifying their legal status.
Key Provisions
The Customs Tariff Validation Act 1936 (referred to as the Act) primarily validates duties of customs that were collected prior to a specific date in relation to customs tariff proposals introduced earlier in the year (section 2). The Act provides a legal basis for the collection of these duties, ensuring that they were imposed and collected in accordance with the law as it stood at the time.
The Act imposes a clear requirement on the government and entities involved in the collection of duties that any customs duties demanded or collected on or before 7th December 1936, under the Customs Tariff proposals introduced on 22nd May 1936, are to be considered as having been lawfully imposed and collected (section 2). This provision serves to legitimise the collection activities that took place within the specified timeframe, providing certainty and retrospective validation.
There are no explicit provisions in the Act detailing offences, penalties, or consequences for breach. The primary focus of the Act is on validating past collections rather than prescribing punitive measures for non-compliance. As such, the Act does not detail any maximum penalties or specific civil or criminal consequences for breach, as it does not outline any requirements for ongoing compliance beyond the retrospective validation of the specified duties.