Monitoring of Places of Detention (Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture) (National Uniform Legislation) Bill 2013 (NT)
Friday 30 August 2013 @ 8.23 a.m. | Crime
The Northern Territory parliament has introduced the Monitoring of Places of Detention (Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture) (National Uniform Legislation) Bill 2013, which will enable the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is an international agreement, aimed at preventing torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It was adopted in 2002 and entered into force in 2006. It builds on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and helps States meet their obligations the convention. The key aim of the optional protocol is to prevent the mistreatment of people in detention.
Under the optional protocol, states agree to international inspections of places of detention by the United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT). Parties are also are required to establish an independent National Preventive Mechanism to conduct inspections of all places of detention, including prisons, juvenile detention, and local and offshore immigration detention facilities.
In particular, Part 2 of the new Bill enables the Subcommittee to fulfil the mandate set out in Article 11(a) of the Optional Protocol, so far as it relates to places of detention.
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Sources:
Monitoring of Places of Detention (Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture) (National Uniform Legislation) Bill 2013 (No. 36 of 2013) via LawOne by TimeBase
