Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF CERTAIN MISSIONS)REGULATIONS 1992 NO. 272

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

STATUTORY RULES 1992 No. 272

Issued by the authority of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade

International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963

International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities of Certain Missions) Regulations

Section 13 of the International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

Subsection 7(1) of the Act provides that where

(a)       an international conference is, or is to be, held in Australia or in a Territory of the Commonwealth; or

(b)       a mission is, or is to be, sent to Australia or to a Territory of the Commonwealth by a country other than Australia, an international organization to which this Act applies or an overseas organization to which this Act applies

and it appears to the Governor-General that the provisions of the Act other than section 7 do not, or may not, apply in relation to that conference or mission, but that it is desirable that diplomatic privileges and immunities should be applicable in relation to that conference or mission, the regulations may declare the conference or mission, as the case may be, to be a conference or mission to which section 7 applies.

The purpose of these Regulations is to declare the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Incorporated (TECO) to be a mission - sent by "a country other than Australia" - for the purposes of section 7 of the Act. Taiwan is already considered a country for the purposes of the Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982, the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, the Customs Tariff Act 1987 and the Sales Tax (Exemptions and Classifications) Act 1982. In an opinion last year on the Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982, the Attorney-General's Department concluded:

"There seems to be no reason why an entity such as Taiwan, which is de facto a separate political, economic and cultural entity, should not be regarded as a country that is not an independant sovereign State".

The Attorney-General's Department based its opinion on the distinction between countries and sovereign States made in paragraph 22(1)f of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 which defines a "foreign country" as "any country (whether or not an independant sovereign state) outside Australia and the external Territories".

while staff attached to the TECO may be granted various privileges and immunities, the TECO itself would not receive privileges and immunities, which means that TECO as an entity will continue to be fully subject to the jurisdiction of the Australian courts.

Details of the proposed Regulations are as follows:

Regulation 1 is a citation clause.

Regulation 2 is an interpretation clause.

Regulation 3 declares TECO to be a mission for the purposes of section 7 of the Act.


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