Attorney-General’s Department International Transfer of Prisoners Unit

Where ITP sits in AGD International Crime Cooperation Central Authority International Transfer of Prisoners Unit Director: Kerry Knowler International Crime Cooperation Division Attorney-General’s Department

Objectives Promote rehabilitation and reintegrationAddress humanitarian concerns Enhance community safety Provide relief to families and prisoners Improve relations between governments

ITP Scheme Overview Allows prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentence in their home country Prisoner must apply to transfer to/from a transfer country Original sentence to be preserved as far as possible Transfer is not automatic – requires consent of all parties

Legal Framework of ITP The International Transfer of Prisoners Act 1997 (Cth) The Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (signed in Strasbourg, 21 March1983, in force on 1 Jan 2003) Bilateral Agreements with: Thailand (in force on 26 September 2002) Hong Kong (in force on 23 April 2006) Cambodia (in force on 14 April 2007 but not yet operational) Vietnam (in force 11 December 2009) China (signed 6 September 2007 but not yet in force) Bilateral Arrangement with: USA (on the Transfer of Persons Sentenced by Military Commissions, in force on 30 March 200 7)

Transfer Countries Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Belgium Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Chile China Costa Rica Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Honduras Hong Kong (bilateral agreement) Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Japan Korea Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Mauritius Mexico Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Norway Panama Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Thailand (bilateral agreement) The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States of America Venezuela Vietnam

Eligibility to Transfer Transfer TO Australia Prisoner is a citizen of Australia (including dual citizen) OR Prisoner is entitled to enter and remain under Migration Act 1958 and has community ties Transfer FROM Australia Prisoner is a national of the transfer country OR Prisoner has community ties with transfer country

Community Ties Transfer country was prisoner’s principal place of residence before conviction Prisoner’s child, parent or grandparent resides in transfer country Prisoner’s spouse/defacto resides in transfer country Prisoner has close relationship with someone in transfer country

Requirements for Transfer be eligible have no outstanding appeals must have at least six months remaining on sentence* satisfy dual criminality not be subject to any extradition requests s10 ITP Act – all consents must be in place and prisoner must:

Steps to Successful Outgoing Transfer Australia receives prisoner’s application AGD seeks correctional reports and other documents from State/Territory Corrective Services AGD provides transfer country with reports and documents and seeks consent/terms If State prisoner, Minister for Justice preliminary consent and State consent also required. Consent of prisoner Final consent of Minister for Justice Physical Transfer

Steps to Successful Incoming Transfer Prisoner applies for transfer to Australia Australian citizenship status confirmed by DIAC AGD seeks correctional reports and documents from sentencing country Minister for Justice determines consent and terms of transfer Consent of relevant State/Territory Consent of sentencing country Consent of prisoner Final consent of Minister for Justice Physical Transfer

ITP Decisions Who Decides Commonwealth - Minister for Justice or Attorney-General State – relevant Corrective services or Justice minister How They Decide ITP Act ITP Statement of Policy considerations Treaties and conventions Each state and territory has its own policy Denial of Transfer Decision-making process reviewable under ADJR Act Any party can deny consent and transfer cannot proceed Can reapply at any time if unsuccessful

Some Statistics 412 Applications to date: 117 incoming, 295 outgoing 76 Transferred14 Incoming62 Outgoing 244 Closed without transfer 93 Currently active

Contact us International Transfer of Prisoners Unit Address: Attorney-General’s Department 3-5 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600 Website: Phone: Fax: / 3313