International Treaties: then and now – ANZSIL President weighs in on parliamentary scrutiny process
To mark the 20th anniversary of establishment of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT), President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) and Professor of International Law Tim Stephens will participate in discussion sessions on Australia’s treaty scrutiny process.
In our best interest: treaty scrutiny in a connected world will see academics, politicians, public servants and international law experts gather at Parliament House in Canberra on 18 March to explore what works and what could be done better for future treaty scrutiny.
Professor Stephens said Australia is a highly active and supportive participant in international law-making processes, which has become more complex and sophisticated, such that much of Australia’s treaty-making activity now involves not only joining new bilateral and multilateral treaty regimes, but also accepting amendments to existing regimes
“JSCOT has a highly significant role in inquiring and reporting on the entry by Australia into binding treaties, which are the main source of international law,” Professor Stephens said.
“Australia’s treaty-making process is generally highly transparent, and open to Parliamentary and public scrutiny through JSCOT, while maintaining the traditional division in the Australian constitutional system between the executive power to enter into treaties, and the legislative power to implement them in Australia.
“Through the more than 150 JSCOT reports, many National Interest Analyses and coupled with the Australian Treaties Database, Australia maintains one of the most comprehensive resources on treaty-making of any country, and the openness of this resource is vitally important for maintaining public confidence in the Australia’s treaty-making process.”
Professor Stephens said there are significant opportunities for enhancing the Australian treaty-making process, and some of these were recently canvassed in the 2015 report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee.
“Among countries with a Westminster system of government, Australia has sophisticated mechanisms for treaty scrutiny, but there remain opportunities for greater Parliamentary scrutiny earlier in the treaty-making process and for the executive to engage more meaningfully with the Parliament and with interested members of the community (including, but not limited to, industry groups) in the treaty-making process,” he said.
The JSCOT was established in 1996 to increase Parliamentary scrutiny of treaties as a result of reforms recommended by the Senate Committee report, Trick or Treaty.
Professor Stephens will be joined by University of Sydney’s Professor Ben Saul, with other panellists for the day including Griffith University’s Law School Dean and Head of School, Professor Penelope Mathew, and Dr Edwin Bikundo. They will also be joined by Professor Andrew Byrnes from the University of NSW, Dr Anna George from Murdoch University and Mr Richard Rowe from the Australian National University.
Representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Attorney-General’s Department will also provide a historical overview and what can be learned from the past 20 years. Current and former members of JSCOT will also provider their perspectives on the past and future of treaties in Australia.
For 20 years JSCOT has been examining treaties on behalf of the Parliament, and making recommendations on how – or if – Australia should take binding treaty action. JSCOT has inquired into 742 treaty actions and made over 157 reports to Parliament.
In that time, treaties have become increasingly complex. Australians are more connected to the broader world through trade, education and migration. International agreements increasingly affect not only broad issues of state but the actions and responsibilities of individual citizens.
In our best interest: treaty scrutiny in a connected world is a free seminar on Friday, 18 March 2016 at Parliament House. To find out more, visit the Australian Parliament Website. Reserve your seat today or tune in at aph.gov.au/live.
