Submission on Crimes Amendment (Fairness for Minors) Bill
ALHR welcomed the opportunity to make a submission on the Crimes Amendment (Fairness for Minors) Bill 2011, which amends certain evidentiary procedures in the Migration Act that have an impact on minors implicated in people smuggling offences. Specifically, the Bill defines timeframes and establishes evidentiary procedures for the age determination and prosecution of non-citizens who are suspected or accused of people smuggling offences and who may have been a child at the time of committing the alleged offence.
ALHR considers that the Bill is in accordance with several relevant articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While we welcome the Bill, we also urge consideration of further amendments to the Migration Act to enact further protections for accused children and to further advance Australia’s compliance with its international human rights obligations.