Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Treasurer, the Hon Peter Costello, MP)
Schedule 2 - Amendments to the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987
Item 1 - Section 3 - Definition of foreign restraining order
230. The purpose of this proposed amendment is to ensure that Australia is in a position to fulfil its obligations at international law in respect of the provision of assistance to foreign countries in the enforcement of foreign orders which have the intended purpose of preserving suspected proceeds of crime.
231. The proposed amendment recognises that regimes established in foreign jurisdictions for the purpose of facilitating the preservation and confiscation of proceeds of crime may operate on a different basis from the regime established in Australia under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987 , and accordingly may result in the issue of orders which are in a different form from those routinely issued under domestic law.
Items 2 and 3 - Subsection 34(7) - Enforcement of foreign restraining order
232. The purpose of this proposed amendment is to make it clear that a foreign restraining order, whatever its terms, once registered in an Australian court, will take effect as if it were an order in the form of a restraining order made under domestic law. Consequently, property the subject of a foreign restraining order will be dealt with in the same manner as property the subject of a domestic restraining order.