While
Foreign Minister
The Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 was amended in 2021 to include what are known as Magnitsky-style laws (named after whistleblower
The purpose of the laws is to enable the Australian Government to impose sanctions against foreign individuals or entities who commit or are involved in serious human rights abuses, corruption and cyber-crime.
The overriding objective of the legislation is punish alleged offenders by imposing travel bans, freezing assets and imposing other financial penalties.
Because cyber hackers, human rights abusers and corrupt officials often become wealthy through illegal activity, the sanctions prohibit them from accessing or spending the suspected proceeds of these crimes.
A secondary effect of the laws can be that the criminals may eventually be “flushed out” because they have limited means to keep hiding from authorities.
There is no need for the Australian Government to lay charges or prove guilt before sanctions can be imposed.
Rather, the Autonomous Sanctions Act empowers the Foreign Minister, currently
Part 2 of the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011 prescribes the criteria for the Minister to apply sanctions. The part also lists the nations or parts thereof to which sanctions currently apply, which at the time of writing are
There is no requirement for the Foreign Minister to report the basis upon which decision for making declarations are made, but the sanction determinations themselves can be accessed via the
The types of sanctions that may be imposed are:
- financial sanctions (including freezing assets)
-
travel bans preventing a person from entering or transiting through
Australia - restrictions on trade or the procurement of goods and services
- restrictions on engaging in commercial activities or dealing with assets, which can include, for example, purchasing shares or establishing a business
-
preventing vessels or private aircraft from entering
Australia .
In the case of
Any person who has been declared to be the subject of sanctions, may apply for a judicial review of the Minister's decision, in accordance with the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 and under common law.
The application is reviewed by the Federal Court, which will consider a number of factors including:
- whether a breach of justice occurred;
- if decision-making procedures were not observed; or the decision itself was contrary to the law
- if the decision-maker did not have the jurisdiction to make the decision
- if the decision was not authorised by the relevant legislation
- if there was an error of law
- if the decision was induced or affected by fraud
- evidence is sufficient to justify the decision
The penalties themselves are intended to both punish suspected criminal behaviour and deter would-be violators from engaging in such conduct.
But more than that, the laws criminalise those who engage in sanctioned conduct by, for example, by participating in commercial transactions in contravention of the sanctions; for instance in this case by providing assets to
The crimes are strict liability offences for corporate bodies, meaning it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove any fault element, such as intent, knowledge, recklessness or negligence.
The offences are punishable for corporate bodies by a fine determined by which is the greater amount - 10,000 penalty units or three times the value of the transaction.
For individuals, the punishment is up to 10 years in prison, and/or a fine determined by which is the greater amount - 2500 penalty units or three times the value of the transaction.
One Commonwealth penalty unit is currently equivalent to
In applying the sanctions,
The effectiveness of these laws are deterring cyber crime or stopping repeat offences remains to be seen.
The strength of the laws lies largely in how universally accepted they become, so as to stop offenders from undertaking 'jurisdiction shopping', whereby they conduct activities with nations that do not have such laws.
In that regard, similar legislation has also been adopted by other countries including the
This alliance means that other governments can also decide to adopt the sanctions against
As a result of the
Many of these records were then published on the dark web, leaving individuals vulnerable to the possibility of blackmail and also identity theft.
The Australian Government also believes that by naming
Just prior to the
The
Both
Under Australian laws, both companies could face large fines for putting customer information at risk.
Ms
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