Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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EXTRADITION (REPUBLIC OF FIJI) REGULATIONS 1991 NO. 96

Statutory Rules 1991 No. 96

Subject: Extradition Act 1988

Extradition (Republic of Fiji) Regulations

Section 55 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 11(1)(b) of the Act provides that the regulations may make provision to the effect that the Act applies in relation to a specified extradition country subject to other limitations, conditions, exceptions or qualifications as are necessary to give effect to multilateral extradition treaty in relation to the country.

The proposed Regulations apply the Act to the Republic of Fiji pursuant to the above provisions of the Act. Australia does not have bilateral extradition treaty with Fiji but has agreed to grant extradition on the basis of reciprocity.

Details of the proposed Regulations are as follows:

Regulations 1 and 2: are citation and interpretation provisions.

Regulation 3: declares the Republic of Fiji to be an Extradition country.

Regulation 4: applies the Act to the Republic of Fiji subject to the limitations, conditions, exceptions or qualifications specified in Regulation 5.

Regulation 5: Subregulation (5)(1) provides that a person is not liable to be surrendered to the Republic of Fiji if, had the act or omission constituting the offence in respect of which the surrender of the person is sought been committed in Australia, in accordance with the law in force in Australia, prosecution would have been barred by lapse of time or when that act or omission is regarded as constituting an offence committed within the jurisdiction of Australia.

Subregulation 5(2) provides that the Attorney-General is precluded from issuing a surrender warrant or temporary surrender warrant if the person sought could be tried by an extraordinary or ad hoc tribunal or court in the Republic of Fiji.

Subregulation 5(3) provides that the conditions in sub (1) and (2) apply in addition to any condition imposed on the issue of warrants of surrender or temporary surrender under the Act.

Subregulation 5(4) gives the Attorney-General a discretion to decline to surrender a person to the Republic of Fiji if the person is an Australian citizen or if the Attorney-General considers that humanitarian considerations should preclude surrender.

Subregulations 5(5) and 5(6) provide that a request from the Republic of Fiji for extradition shall be accompanied by documents sufficient to allow the sufficient evidence test, as defined in section 11(5) of the Act, to be satisfied. That test provides that evidence must be supplied which would warrant putting the person on trial in relation to the offence.