Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS (REPUBLIC OF VANUATU) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1993 NO. 110

Statutory Rules 1993 No. 110

Issued by the authority of the Attorney-General

Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987

Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (Republic of Vanuatu) Regulations (Amendment)

Section 44 of the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations 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. Section 7 of the Act provides that regulations may apply the Act to a specified foreign country subject to limitations, conditions, exceptions, or qualifications other than those necessary to give effect to a bilateral mutual assistance treaty between Australia and that country. In other words, regulations may be made applying the Act to a specified foreign country other than by way of a mutual assistance treaty.

Pursuant to the above provisions, the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (Republic of Vanuatu) Regulations (the principal Regulations) were made in 1989. The principal Regulations provide that Part IV of the Act, which deals with arrangements for persons to travel to or from Australia to give evidence or assist investigations, be applied to the Republic of Vanuatu. The reason for this limited application of the Act to the Republic of Vanuatu was to facilitate the entry into Australia in custody of a high risk prisoner from the Republic of Vanuatu to give evidence in a very sensitive and large scale drug importation prosecution in 1989.

The Republic of Vanuatu's Mutual Assistance and Proceeds of Crime Acts came into force on 20 August 1990. The Republic of Vanuatu's Mutual Assistance Act applies to all Commonwealth countries including Australia. It is based on the Harare Scheme which is the Scheme on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between Commonwealth countries agreed upon at Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1986. The Republic of Vanuatu's Act enables it to provide Australia with assistance similar to that contained in our Act, thereby ensuring reciprocity were Australia to apply its Act in its entirety to the Republic of Vanuatu.

The Regulations amend the principal regulations to apply the Act to the Republic of Vanuatu in its entirety instead of in the limited way at present.

Details of the Regulations are as follows:

Regulation 1 provides that the principal regulations are amended as set out in these Regulations.

Regulation 2 omits regulation 3 in the principal regulations which applies the Act in the limited way to Vanuatu and substitutes that with a new regulation 3 which applies the Act in its entirety to Vanuatu.