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The Human Rights Of Australia

Decent Essays

Countries such as Australia and People’s Republic of China owe a duty to their citizens to uphold basic human rights outlined in such treaties as International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1976 (United Nations,1948) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 1987. Article 2 of the treaty has been accepted by Australia and China which states that each State party should take legislative, administrative and judicial measures to prevent torture within the States jurisdiction. Wang claims he was tortured whilst within the Chinese prison and that the Australian consulate-general was aware of his torture. All articles apart from article 20 and paragraph 1 of article 30 of the …show more content…

(Ibid 69). It appears the Australian government having an obligation to protect the human rights of a citizen arrested in a foreign State is an albeit weak argument and will present little support in building a negligence case as there is very little treaty, common law, and statute support.
b) Consular Assistance:
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations was transformed into Australian domestic law through section 5 of the Consular Privileges and Immunities Act 1972.
The Vienna Convention outlines "that consular officials shall have a right to visit a national of the sending State who is in prison, custody or detention, to converse and correspond with him and to arrange for his legal representation (Article 36(c))." While this signifies the right of consular officials to have access to nationals, there is no similar provision to demonstrate a legal right for nationals facing criminal charges overseas to receive consular assistance (DFAT, 2016, Consular Services Charter, http://smartraveller.gov.au/services/pages/consular-services-charter.aspx).
Given the similar positions in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, there has been considerable discussion as to whether it is possible to use the doctrine of legitimate expectations to create a right to consular assistance (Khadr v Canada (Prime Minister) 2010 1 SCR 44; Abassi v Secretary of the State and Commonwealth Affiars

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