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Attorney-General’s DepartmentInternational Transfer of Prisoners Unit
Where ITP sits in AGD
International Crime Cooperation Central Authority
International Transfer of Prisoners Unit Director: Kerry Knowler
International Crime Cooperation Division
Attorney-General’s Department
Objectives
Promote rehabilitation and reintegration
Address humanitarian concerns
Enhance community safety
Provide relief to families and prisoners
Improve relations between governments
ITP Scheme Overview
Allows prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentence in
their home country
Prisoner must apply to transfer to/from a transfer country
Original sentence to be preserved as far as possible Transfer is not automatic –
requires consent of all parties
Legal Framework of ITP
The International Transfer of Prisoners Act 1997 (Cth)
The Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (signed in Strasbourg, 21 March1983, in
force on 1 Jan 2003)
Bilateral Agreements with:•Thailand (in force on 26 September 2002)
•Hong Kong (in force on 23 April 2006)
•Cambodia (in force on 14 April 2007 but not yet operational)
•Vietnam (in force 11 December 2009)•China (signed 6 September 2007 but not yet in force)
Bilateral Arrangement with:•USA (on the Transfer of Persons Sentenced by Military Commissions, in force on 30 March 2007)
Transfer CountriesAlbania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Belgium
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
Chile
China
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Honduras
Hong Kong (bilateral agreement)
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Korea
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Mauritius
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Panama
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand (bilateral agreement)
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States of America
Venezuela
Vietnam
Eligibility to Transfer
Transfer TO Australia
Prisoner is a citizen of Australia (including
dual citizen) OR
Prisoner is entitled to enter and remain under
Migration Act 1958 and has community
ties
Transfer FROM Australia
Prisoner is a national of the transfer country
OR
Prisoner has community ties with
transfer country
Community Ties
Transfer country
was prisoner’s principal place of
residence before
conviction
Prisoner’s child, parent or grandparent resides in
transfer country
Prisoner’s spouse/defacto resides in transfer country
Prisoner has close relationsh
ip with someone
in transfer country
Requirements for Transfer
• be eligible• have no outstanding appeals• must have at least six months
remaining on sentence*• satisfy dual criminality• not be subject to any extradition
requests
s10 ITP Act – all
consents must be in place and prisoner
must:
Steps to Successful Outgoing Transfer
Australia receives prisoner’s application
AGD seeks correctional reports and other documents from State/Territory
Corrective Services
AGD provides transfer country with reports and
documents and seeks consent/terms
If State prisoner, Minister for Justice
preliminary consent and State consent also
required.
Consent of prisonerFinal consent of Minister for Justice
Physical Transfer
Steps to Successful Incoming Transfer
Prisoner applies for transfer to Australia
Australian citizenship status confirmed by
DIAC
AGD seeks correctional reports and documents from sentencing country
Minister for Justice determines consent
and terms of transfer
Consent of relevant State/Territory
Consent of sentencing country
Consent of prisoner Final consent of Minister for Justice Physical Transfer
ITP Decisions
Who Decides
Commonwealth - Minister for Justice or
Attorney-General
State – relevant Corrective services or
Justice minister
How They Decide
ITP Act
ITP Statement of Policy considerations
Treaties and conventions
Each state and territory has its own policy
Denial of Transfer
Decision-making process reviewable
under ADJR Act
Any party can deny consent and transfer
cannot proceed
Can reapply at any time if unsuccessful
Some Statistics
412 Applications to date: 117 incoming, 295 outgoing
76 Transferred
14 Incoming 62 Outgoing
244 Closed without transfer
93 Currently active
Contact us
International Transfer of Prisoners Unit Address: Attorney-General’s Department3-5 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600Website: www.ag.gov.au/itp Email: [email protected]: +61 2 6141 6666Fax: +61 2 6141 5457 / 3313
