EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1989 No. 114
Subject- Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (United States of America) Regulations
Section 44 of 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 7(2)(b) provides that regulations may make provision that the Act applies in relation to a specified foreign country subject to limitations, conditions, exceptions or qualifications.
The proposed Regulations apply the Act to the United States of America (USA) on a limited basis. Parts 1, 2 and 4 only of the Act are applied to the USA at this stage.
Detailed negotiations will take place in the near future for the conclusion of a bilateral mutual assistance treaty between Australia and the USA. The proposed Regulations will be superceded in due course by regulations giving effect to that treaty.
Details of the proposed Regulations are as follows:
Clause 1 is a citation clause.
Clause 2 is an interpretation clause.
Subclause 1 of clause 3 provides that the Act applies in relation to the United States of America subject to the exceptions specified in subclause 2.
Subclause 2 of clause 3 provides that Parts 3, 5 and 6 of the Act do not apply in relation to the United States of America.