6 September 2024
Submission:
In September 2024, ACIJ provided its written submission to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Reference’s Committee to its Inquiry into Australia’s Sanctions Regime.
The ACIJ’s work focuses primarily on international criminal justice and accountability. Thus, ACIj’s submission outlines potential amendments to the current sanctions regime to strengthen, promote and enforce international human rights and justice, with a focus on the following Terms of Reference (ToR) listed for this Inquiry:
- measures to coordinate, collaborate, and harmonise sanctions with partners and allies, and multilateralisation;
- mechanisms to freeze and confiscate assets belonging to sanctioned persons/entities and redistribution of proceeds to affected persons;
- engagement by the Australian community, civil society, financial institutions and other organisations in Australia’s sanctions regime;
- methods to assess the effectiveness of sanctions decisions and/or the extent to which sanctions are having the intended impact, and recommended improvements; and
- how Australia’s sanctions regime could better align with Australia’s existing anti-corruption and crime measures, including to better target Australians involved in designated actions.
It makes the following recommendations:
Recommendation 1
The Regulations should be amended to introduce serious violations of international humanitarian law and threats to international peace and security as thematic sanction regimes under regulation 6A to expand the impact of sanctions on persons engaged in the most egregious international crimes.
Recommendation 2
Australia should strengthen collaboration with like-minded partners and improve on its response time to multilateralise sanctions impact.
Recommendation 3
Australia should establish mechanisms to freeze, confiscate and repurpose assets of designated persons for the benefit of communities that are victims of underlying wrongful conduct.
Recommendation 4
Legislation should specify a clear route and process for contribution and submission of information from civil society and non-governmental organisations.
Recommendation 5
Decisions to impose sanctions should ensure consultation with relevant government agencies and departments to consider whether the conduct alleged amounts to an extraterritorial criminal offence against the Commonwealth in Chapter 8 of the Criminal Code and to determine whether prosecution is more likely and appropriate in the circumstance. Such consultation would be particularly important if thematic sanctions were introduced for serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Recommendation 6
Other enforcement options, including infringement notices and civil pecuniary penalties, should be implemented for the purposes of providing an avenue for accountability for less serious contraventions.
Recommendation 7
The Australian Sanctions Office (ASO) should release guidance on best practice for individuals and entities concerning reasonable precautions to take while awaiting the outcome of a sanctions permit application, response from the ASO and/or judgment by the Federal Court in response to a declaration application.
Read the Joint Submission with Geoffrey Robertson KC here.
Watch the hearing featuring ACIJ’s Lara Khider, Rawan Arraf, and Mr Geoffery Robertson KC here.
Watch Lara Khider deliver ACIJ’s Opening Statement here.
