Recommendations

1.68The Committee recommends that the Australian Government includes detailed reasoning for listing decisions in legislative instruments that impose autonomous sanctions.

1.69The Committee recommends that the Australian Sanctions Office updates and maintains the Consolidated List to include detailed reasoning for each designation.

1.70The Committee recommends that the Minister for Foreign Affairs reports annually to the Parliament on all autonomous sanctions decisions taken during the previous 12 months.

1.71The Committee recommends that the Australian Government amends Section 6A of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 to:

include criteria for the thematic area of ‘threats to international peace and security’

include criteria for the thematic area of ‘serious violations of international humanitarian law’, in conformity with the term’s meaning under international law.

1.72The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, in consultation with the humanitarian sector, amends the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 to provide a standing exemption from all sanctions measures for legitimate humanitarian assistance, consistent with the approach taken in United Nations Security Council Resolution 2664 (2022).