Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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EXTRADITION (THAILAND) REGULATIONS 1995 NO. 372

Statutory Rules 1995 No. 372

Issued by the Authority of the Attorney-General

Extradition Act 1988

Extradition (Thailand) Regulations

Section 55 of the Extradition Act 1988 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing all 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. Subsection 11(1) of the Act provides that regulations may apply the Act to a specified extradition country subject to such limitations, conditions, exceptions, or qualifications set out in the regulations. This allows for regulations to be made applying the Act to a specified extradition country by way of an extradition treaty or otherwise.

Prior to the making of the Regulations the Act applied to Thailand by virtue of a Treaty for the Extradition of Criminals concluded between Great Britain and Siam on 4 March 1911. This Treaty has been inherited by Australia and it has constituted the extradition relationship between Australia and Thailand. The inherited Treaty has deficiencies. It does not apply to modem offences such as drug trafficking or money laundering, nor does it incorporate modern developments in international extradition. The Regulations will overcome these deficiencies of the inherited Treaty by creating a modem non-treaty extradition relationship between Australia and Thailand based on reciprocity. Although the inherited Treaty with Thailand will remain valid in the international sphere, the obligations under that Treaty will now be met at the domestic level by the non-treaty application of the Act.

The Regulations will enable Australia to extradite to and from Thailand for a large range of offences, including modern offences such as drug trafficking and money laundering. All internationally accepted safeguards in extradition will apply. For example, persons will not be extradited to Thailand where the death penalty will be imposed. In addition, the Attorney-General has a wide discretion to refuse surrender of a person to Thailand for political offences or offences attracting cruel or unusual punishment, or where it would be incompatible with humanitarian considerations. Similar Regulations have been made applying the Act to Brazil, Denmark, Fiji, Japan, Iceland, the Marshall Islands and South Africa.

The Regulations apply the Act to Thailand as modified by Regulation 4.

The Regulations commence on gazettal.

Details of the Regulations are as follows:

Regulation 1 is a citation provision.

Regulation 2 is an interpretation provision.

Regulation 3 declares Thailand to be an extradition country.

Regulation 4 provides that the Attorney-General shall not surrender a person to Thailand if the person were liable to be tried before a tribunal specially established to try that person.