Australia and Thai Extradition Treaty

Section 55 of the *Extradition Act 1988* (“the Act”) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations prescribing matters that are required or permitted by the Act, or that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for the purpose of carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

Furthermore, subsection 11(1) of the Act authorises the making of regulations applying the Act to a specified extradition country, subject to such limitations, conditions, exceptions or qualifications as may be set out in the regulations. Likewise also see the extradition law firm in Thailand  and other issues such as the Thailand extradition laws as well. This is similar to the question, does Australia have an extradition treaty with Thailand as well.

Prior Arrangement with Thailand

Prior to the enactment of these Regulations, extradition arrangements between Australia and Thailand were governed by the Treaty for the Extradition of Criminals entered into between Great Britain and Siam on 4 March 1911 (“the 1911 Treaty”), which was inherited by Australia. While this Treaty formed the historical basis of the extradition relationship between the two countries, it is now regarded as deficient for modern purposes.

In particular, it does not extend to contemporary offences such as drug trafficking or money laundering, and it lacks provisions reflecting modern developments in international extradition law and practice.

Purpose and Legal Effect of the Regulations

The present Regulations address the limitations of the 1911 Treaty. This has been done by establishing a modern, non-treaty extradition relationship between Australia and Thailand. This is based on the principle of reciprocity. Although the 1911 Treaty will continue to exist in international law. You will note that the domestic implementation of Australia’s extradition obligations in respect of Thailand will now be governed by these Regulations under the framework of the Act.

The Regulations enable Australia to both request and grant extradition in respect of a broad range of offences, including serious transnational crimes such as drug trafficking and money laundering. The application of the Act to Thailand is thereby modernised and harmonised with internationally recognised safeguards.

Safeguards

All protections and safeguards enshrined in the Act will apply to extradition requests involving Thailand. Notably, a person will not be extradited to Thailand where the offence is punishable by death. In addition, the Attorney-General retains broad discretionary authority to refuse extradition. This will be based on grounds including, but not limited to, the political character of the offence. Likewise the risk of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, or other humanitarian considerations.

Comparative Context

Regulations of this nature have similarly been made applying the Act. This to other jurisdictions, including Brazil, Denmark, Fiji, Japan, Iceland, the Marshall Islands, and South Africa.

Commencement

The Regulations come into effect upon their publication in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.

Clause-by-Clause Overview

* Regulation 1: This specifies the title of the Regulations.

* Regulation 2: Likewise this provides interpretative provisions for the purposes of the Regulations.

* Regulation 3: Thirdly the formally declares Thailand to be an extradition country for the purposes of the Act.

* Regulation 4: Lastly this prescribes that a person shall not be surrendered to Thailand if such person is liable to be tried before a tribunal established specifically for their case.