Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 1 Introduction

Committee’s procedures for the review
Government’s procedures for specific listings
Group one
Group two

1.1

This review is conducted under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (the Criminal Code) as amended by the Criminal Code Amendment (Terrorist Organisations) Act 2004 which gained royal assent on 10 March 2004. Section 102.1A of the Criminal Code provides that the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD may review the regulation as soon as possible after it has been made and report the Committee’s comments to each house of the Parliament before the end of the applicable disallowance period.

1.2

One review was undertaken in the last Parliament under this power, the Review of the listing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), tabled in June 2004.

1.3

The current review covers six regulations made at the end of the last Parliament and before the beginning of this. They refer to organisations listed as terrorist organisations under part 5.3 of the Criminal Code as amended by the Security Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Act 2002. Under that legislation, 13 groups were listed. All had previously been listed by the United Nations Security Council. These six regulations then are all re-listings, being reviewed under the new provisions.

1.4

The regulations were tabled on the return of the House of Representatives and the Senate on 6 December 2005. The disallowance period of 15 sitting days for the Committee’s review of the listings began from the date of the tabling. Therefore the Committee is required to report to the Parliament by 14 March 2005.

 

Committee’s procedures for the review

1.5

In its first report on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Committee established the following procedures for reviewing terrorist listings.

1.6

With the exception of aspects of dot point one, which is further discussed below, this review followed these agreed procedures.

1.7

The Attorney-General wrote to the Chairman on 31 August 2004 for the regulations made on that day for Al Qa’ida and Jemaah Islamiyah and on 1 November 2004 for regulations made on 4 November for the other four organisations. These letters informed the Committee of the Attorney-General’s intention and included the Attorney’s public Statement of Reasons. In addition, a further submission was received from the Attorney-General’s Department on 10 December outlining the procedures used in the making of the regulations.

1.8

The Committee advertised the inquiry in The Australian on Friday, 17 December 2004. Notice of the inquiry was also placed on the Committee’s website. Seven submissions were received from the general public.

1.9

Representatives of the Attorney-General’s Department, ASIO and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) attended a private hearing on the listings on 1 February 2005 in Canberra.

 

Government’s procedures for specific listings

1.10

In a submission sent to the Committee on 10 December 2004, the Attorney-General’s Department outlined its procedures in the making of the regulations for the six organisations under consideration. The regulations were dealt with in two groups: Group one - Al Qa’ida and Jemaah Islamiyah on 31 August; and Group two - Abu Sayyaf, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), the Jamiat ul-Ansar (JuA), (formally Harakat Ul-Mujahideen), and the Salafist Group on 4 November.

 

Group one

1.11

In relation to group one of these regulations, the Attorney General’s Department informed the Committee that it followed these procedures:

 

Group two

1.12

The following process was undertaken for the purpose of listing all four organisations within group two about which regulations were made on 4 November:



Footnotes

1 Attorney-General’s Department submission No 7. Back
2 Attorney-General’s Department submission no. 7 Back

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