Top prosecutors warn of foreign criminals escaping justice
The nation’s top prosecutors fear foreign criminals could escape justice in Australia by taking advantage of a ruling by the Department of Home Affairs and asking to be deported.
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EXCLUSIVE: The nation’s top prosecutors fear foreign criminals could escape justice in Australia by taking advantage of a ruling by the Department of Home Affairs and asking to be deported.
An October letter, signed by the Directors of Public Prosecution of all states and territories, says if the bizarre ruling stands, it could even see foreigners come for the specific purpose of committing crimes, knowing they would effectively be immune from prosecution.
“Clearly, this has the potential to cause significant distress to victims of serious violent or sexual offences,” the letter to Department of Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo says.
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Under the Migration Act, a DPP can issue a criminal justice stay certificate preventing the deportation of a non-citizen facing criminal charges in that state or territory.
The DPPs say they have been told the department has now decided these certificates are trumped by another section of the Act, saying “an officer must remove as soon as reasonably practicable an unlawful non-citizen who asks the minister, in writing, to be so removed”.
The DPPs say that if this decision stands, “the consequences would indeed be far-reaching”, warning that “a non-citizen could circumvent the administration of justice — at any stage of that process — simply by requesting their removal” from Australia.
They warn that “it could even result in a situation in which non-citizens could travel to Australia for the specific purpose of carrying out criminal offences, knowing that they would be effectively rendered immune from prosecution and the consequences of conviction by making a request for removal”.
A senior Victorian legal source said that on average, 10 to 20 of these stay certificates are issued in the state each year.
The Herald Sun understands that while the Home Affairs ruling is yet to affect any cases in Victoria, the bail conditions of a foreigner facing charges in Queensland were amended to prevent any deportation request.
In a veiled warning, the DPPs write that they “trust your department will change its view, to obviate the necessity of any challenge to that view”.
Mr Pezullo has not responded to the letter, though a Department of Home Affairs spokesman confirmed on Thursday night he had received it.