MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987 - TABLE OF PROVISIONS
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
PART I - PRELIMINARY
Section
1. Short title
2. Commencement
3. Interpretation
4. Act to extend to external Territories
5. Object of Act
6. Act not to limit other provision of assistance
7. Application of Act
8. Refusal of assistance
9. Assistance may be provided subject to conditions
10. Requests by Australia
11. Request by foreign country
PART II - ASSISTANCE IN RELATION TO TAKING OF EVIDENCE AND
PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS OR OTHER ARTICLES
12. Requests by Austalia
13. Requests by foreign countries
PART III - ASSISTANCE IN RELATION TO SEARCH AND SEIZURE
14. Requests by Australia for search and seizure
15. Requests by foreign countries for search and seizure
PART IV - ARRANGEMENTS FOR PERSONS TO GIVE EVIDENCE OR
ASSIST INVESTIGATIONS
Division 1 - Requests by Australia
16. Requests for removal of certain persons to Australia
17. Arrangements between Attorney-General and State Ministers in relation
to
custody of certain persons
18. Custody of certain persons
19. Immunities
20. Status of person prosecuted for offence committed after departure
from
foreign country
21. Limitation on use of evidence given by certain persons
22. Conditions of imprisonment
23. Release of certain persons upon request by foreign country
24. Escaping
25. Arrest of person who has escaped from custody
Division 2 - Requests by foreign countries
26. Requests for giving of evidence at hearings in foreign countries
27. Requests for assistance in relation to investigations in foreign
countries
28. Effect of removal to foreign country on prisoner's term of
imprisonment
PART V - CUSTODY OF PERSONS IN TRANSIT
29. Transit
30. Escaping
31. Arrest of person in transit
PART VI - PROCEEDS OF CRIME
Division 1 - Requests by Australia
32. Requests for enforcement of orders
33. Requests for issue of orders in foreign countries
Division 2 - Requests by foreign countries
34. Requests for enforcement of orders
35. Requests for search and seizure warrants in respect of tainted
property
36. Requests for restraining orders
37. Requests for information gathering orders
PART VII - SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS
38. Service of documents
PART VIII - MISCELLANEOUS
39. Arrangements with States
40. Delegation
41. Jurisdiction of courts
42. Evidence
43. Authentication of documents
44. Regulations
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987 - LONG TITLE
An Act relating to the provision and obtaining of
international assistance in criminal matters
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987 - PART I
PART I - PRELIMINARY
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987 - SECT 1
Short title
(Assented to 5 June 1987)
1. This Act may be cited as the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act
1987.
(Minister's second reading speech made in - House of Representatives on 30
April 1987 Senate on 29 May 1987)
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MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987 - SECT 2
Commencement
2. (1) Section 1 and this section shall come into operation on the day on
which this Act receives the Royal Assent.
(2) The remaining provisions of this Act shall come into operation on a day
or days fixed by Proclamation.
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987 - SECT 3
Interpretation
3. (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
"ancillary offence" has the same meaning as in section 7 of the Proceeds of
Crime Act;
"approved form" means a form approved by the Attorney-General in writing for
the purposes of the provision in which the expression occurs;
"Australia", when used in a geographical sense, includes the external
Territories;
"Australian forfeiture order" means:
(a) a forfeiture order within the meaning of the Proceeds of
Crime Act;
(b) an interstate forfeiture order within the meaning of the
Proceeds of Crime Act; or
(c) an order, made under Australian law, that:
(i) orders the forfeiture of property in respect of an
offence against Australian law; and
(ii) is, in accordance with the regulations, to be taken to be an
Australian forfeiture order for the purposes of this Act;
"Australian law" means the laws of the Commonwealth, the States and the
Territories;
"Australian pecuniary penalty order" means:
(a) a pecuniary penalty order within the meaning of the Proceeds of
Crime Act;
(b) an interstate pecuniary penalty order within the meaning of
the Proceeds of Crime Act; or
(c) an order, made under Australian law, that:
(i) imposes a pecuniary penalty on a person in respect of an
offence against Australian law; and
(ii) is, in accordance with the regulations, to be taken to be an
Australian pecuniary penalty order for the purposes of this Act;
"Australian restraining order" means:
(a) a restraining order within the meaning of the Proceeds of Crime
Act (other than a restraining order made by virtue of section 59 of that
Act);
(b) an interstate restraining order within the meaning of the
Proceeds of Crime Act; or
(c) an order, made under Australian law, that:
(i) restrains a particular person, or all persons, from dealing
with property; and
(ii) is, in accordance with the regulations, to be taken to be an
Australian restraining order for the purposes of this Act;
"committal proceeding", in relation to a foreign offence, includes:
(a) any proceeding to determine whether a person should be tried
for the offence (whether or not a particular person is specified at the
commencement of that proceeding as the person in relation to whom the
determination is to be made); and
(b) a proceeding that is, in accordance with the regulations, to be
taken to be a committal proceeding for the purposes of this Act;
"criminal investigation" means an investigation into an offence (whether the
offence is believed to have been committed, to be being committed or to be
likely to be committed);
"criminal matter" includes:
(a) a criminal matter relating to revenue (including taxation and
customs duties);
(b) a criminal matter relating to foreign exchange control;
(c) a matter relating to the forfeiture or confiscation of property
in respect of an offence;
(d) a matter relating to the imposition or recovery of a pecuniary
penalty in repect of an offence; and
(e) a matter relating to the restraining of dealings in property,
or the freezing of assets, that may be forfeited or confiscated, or that may
be needed to satisfy a pecuniary penalty imposed, in respect of an offence;
whether arising under Australian law or a law of a foreign country;
"criminal proceeding", in relation to an offence, means a trial of a person
for the offence or a committal proceeding in respect of the offence;
"DPP" means the Director of Public Prosecutions;
"facsimile copy" means a copy obtained by facsimile transmission;
"federal prisoner" means a person who is being held in custody pending trial
for or sentence for, or is under a sentence of imprisonment for, an offence
against a law of the Commonwealth or of a Territory, but does not include a
person who is at large after having escaped from lawful custody;
"financial institution" has the same meaning as in the Proceeds of Crime
Act;
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"foreign forfeiture order" means an order, made under the law of a foreign
country, for the forfeiture of property in respect of an offence against the
law of that country;
"foreign pecuniary penalty order" means an order, made under the law of a
foreign country, imposing a pecuniary penalty in respect of an offence against
the law of that country, but does not include an order for the payment of a
sum of money by way of compensation, restitution or damages to an injured
person;
"foreign prisoner" means a person who is being held in custody pending trial
for or sentence for, or is under a sentence of imprisonment for, an offence
against a law of a foreign country, but does not include a person who is at
large after having escaped from lawful custody;
"foreign restraining order" means an order, made under the law of a foreign
country, restraining a particular person, or all persons, from dealing with
property, being an order made in respect of an offence against the law of that
country;
"foreign offence" means an offence against a law of a foreign country;
"foreign serious offence" means a serious offence against a law of a foreign
country;
"Governor", in relation to the Northern Territory, means the Administrator
of the Northern Territory;
"Magistrate" means:
(a) a Magistrate of a Territory; or
(b) a Magistrate of a State in respect of whom an arrangement
under section 39 is in force;
"money laundering offence", in relation to the proceeds of a serious
narcotics offence, means an offence involving:
(a) the engaging, directly or indirectly, in a transaction that
involves money, or other property, that is, within the meaning of the Proceeds
of Crime Act, proceeds of the serious narcotics offence; or
(b) the receiving, possessing, concealing, disposing of or bringing
into a country of money, or other property, that is, within the meaning of the
Proceeds of Crime Act, proceeds of the serious narcotics offence;
"mutual assistance treaty" means a treaty relating in whole or in part to
the provision of assistance in criminal matters;
"offence" includes an offence against a law relating to taxation, customs
duties or other revenue matters or relating to foreign exchange control;
"offence under the ordinary criminal law of Australia" means an offence
against Australian law other than an offence under the military law of
Australia;
"police officer" means a member or special member of the Australian Federal
Police or a member of the police force of a State or Territory;
"premises" includes:
(a) a structure, building, aircraft, vehicle or vessel;
(b) a place (whether enclosed or built upon or not); and
(c) a part of premises (including premises of a kind referred to
in paragraph (a) or (b));
"prison" includes a gaol, lock-up or other place of detention;
"proceeds" has the same meaning as in the Proceeds of Crime Act;
"Proceeds of Crime Act" means the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987;
"property" has the same meaning as in the Proceeds of Crime Act;
"property-tracking document" has the same meaning as in the Proceeds of
Crime Act;
"serious narcotics offence" has the same meaning as in section 7 of the
Proceeds of Crime Act;
"serious offence" means an offence the maximum penalty for which is death,
or imprisonment for not less than 12 months;
"State" includes the Northern Territory;
"State Minister", in relation to a State or the Northern Territory, means a
Minister of the Crown of the State or a Minister of the Northern Territory, as
the case may be;
"State prisoner" means a person who is being held in custody pending trial
for a sentence for, or under a sentence of imprisonment for, an offence
against a law of a State, but does not include a person who is at large after
having escaped from lawful custody;
"tainted property" has the same meaning as in the Proceeds of Crime Act;
"Territory" does not include the Northern Territory;
"treaty" includes a convention, protocol, agreement or arrangement;
"trial", in relation to a foreign offence, includes any proceeding to
determine whether a person should be convicted of the offence.
(2) For the purposes of this Act:
(a) a colony, territory or protectorate of a foreign country;
(b) a territory for the international relations of which a foreign country
is responsible; and
(c) a ship or aircraft of, or registered in, a foreign country;
shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be deemed to be part of that
foreign country.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a colony, territory or protectorate
that is itself a foreign country to which this Act applies.
(4) A reference in this Act to a law of a foreign country includes a
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reference to a law of a part of, or a law in force in a part of, the foreign
country.
(5) A reference in this Act to an Australian criminal offence is a reference
to an offence against a law of the Commonwealth or of a Territory.
(6) Without prejudice to its effect by virtue of subsection (5), this Act
has effect as if a reference in this Act to an Australian criminal offence
included a reference to an offence against a law of a State.
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987 - SECT 4
Act to extend to external Territories
4. This Act extends to every external Territory.
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987 - SECT 5
Object of Act
5. The object of this Act is to facilitate the provision and obtaining by
Australia of international assistance in criminal matters, including:
(a) the obtaining of evidence, documents or other articles;
(b) the provision of documents and other records;
(c) the location and identification of witnesses or suspects;
(d) the execution of requests for search and seizure;
(e) the making of arrangements for persons to give evidence or assist
investigations;
(f) the forfeiture or confiscation of property in respect of offences;
(g) the recovery of pecuniary penalties in respect of offences;
(h) the restraining of dealings in property, or the freezing of assets, that
may be forfeited or confiscated, or that may be needed to satisfy pecuniary
penalties imposed, in respect of offences;
(j) the location of property that may be forfeited, or that may be needed to
satisfy pecuniary penalties imposed, in respect of offences; and
(k) the service of documents.
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS ACT 1987 No. 85, 1987 - SECT 6