Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Treasurer, the Hon Peter Costello, MP)
Notes on items
Section 1 - Short title
24. It is proposed that the short title of the Act will be the Crimes Amendment (Forensic Procedures) Act 2001.
Section 2 - Commencement
25. Subsection 2(1) provides that the Act and items 2 and 3 of Schedule 1 and all of Schedule 2 commence on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent. Items 2 and 3 of Schedule 1 deal with judicial and magisterial arrangements and Schedule 2 with international mutual assistance matters. These are mechanical amendments which do not require any lead time before coming into effect.
26. Subsections 2(2) and 2(3) provide that the substantive provisions of the Act dealing with forensic procedures and contained in Schedule 1 (other than items 2 and 3) will commence 6 months after Royal Assent, unless commenced by Proclamation at an earlier date. This will provide the Government with some flexibility about the date of commencement to ensure there is adequate awareness of the provisions and to allow the Australian Federal Police to train officers. It also avoids the undesirable outcome of having unproclaimed legislation on the statute book for too long.
27. Subsection 2(4) ensures that current provisions in Part 1D of the Crimes Act 1914 referred to in item 78 of this Bill, which are to be replaced by the provisions in this Bill at item 77, are repealed immediately before being replaced. The remainder of this subsection deals with technical issues to ensure that the renumbering of Divisions in Part 1D of the Crimes Act 1914 occurs after the amendments in this Bill commence.
Section 3 - Schedules
28. This section provides that the Acts specified in the Schedules to the Bill, the Crimes Act 1914 in Schedule 1 and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 in Schedule 2, are amended as set out in each case.