EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Subject- Extradition Act 1988 No 265
Extradition (Republic of France) Regulations
Section 55 of the Extradition Act 1988 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act. Paragraph 11(1)(a) of the Act provides that regulations may apply the Act to a specified extradition country to give effect to a bilateral extradition treaty.
On 31 August 1988, the Attorney-General signed a Treaty on Extradition between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Republic of France (the Treaty). A copy of the English text of the Treaty is set out in the Schedule to the Extradition (Republic of France) Regulations (the Regulations).
Article 18, paragraph 2, of the Treaty provides that the Treaty replaces and terminates, with regard to relations between Australia and the Republic of France, the provisions of the treaty between France and Great Britain for the Mutual Surrender of Fugitive Criminals signed at Paris on 14 August 1876 and amended by Conventions signed at Paris on 13 February 1896 and 17 October 1908.
Article 18, paragraph 1, of the Treaty provides for each Contracting Party to notify the other of the accomplishment of the procedure required for the entry into force of the Treaty and for the Treaty to enter into force thirty days after the date of receipt of the last of these notifications. The Republic of France has recently advised Australia that the processes necessary under its law to ratify the Treaty have been completed. Australia’s requirement for entry into force of the Treaty is the making of Regulations applying the Act to the Republic of France subject to the Treaty.
Details of the Regulations are as follows:
Clause 1 is a citation provision.
Clause 2 provides for the Regulations to commence on 23 November 1989 (on the basis that the Republic of France will be notified of the making of the Regulations thirty days beforehand in accordance with Article 18, paragraph 1 of the Treaty).
Clause 3 is an interpretation provision.
Clause 4 declares the Republic of France to be an extradition country for the purposes of the Act.
Clause 5 applies the Act to the Republic of France subject to the Treaty which is reproduced as a Schedule to the Regulations.