Treaties Committee holds hearings into Australia-Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement and Australia-US Cloud Act Agreement

THE Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will hold a public hearing on Wednesday October 12, 2022 into two treaties.

The Agreement between Australia and Japan concerning the Facilitation of Reciprocal Access and Cooperation between the Australian Defence Force and the Self‑Defense Forces of Japan would provide a legal framework to facilitate defence cooperation between Australia and Japan and define the status of the Visiting Force and Civilian Component of a Party while in the territory of the other Party.

The Committee will be hearing from witnesses who have made submissions addressing a range of matters including the criminal justice elements of the treaty, particularly the Annex and Record of Discussion that deal with the death penalty.

The Committee will also hear from submitters to the Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the United States of America on Access to Electronic Data for the Purpose of Countering Serious Crime (Australia-US Cloud Act Agreement).

The Australia-US Cloud Act Agreement would allow Australian authorities to seek an Order under Australian law to obtain the electronic data of a Covered Person where it relates to a serious offence, directly from communication service providers that operate under the jurisdiction of the US, and vice versa.

Committee Chair, Josh Wilson MP said, “The Committee looks forward to hearing from a range of representative as it progresses its inquiries into these two important treaties.”

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 12 October 2022
Time: 9.10am – 3.10pm AEDT

The program for this hearing is also available online: Australia-Japan RAA and Australia-US Cloud Act Agreement.

Further information on the inquiries can be found on the Committee website.

 

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