Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator the Honourable Christopher Martin Ellison, MP)Schedule 11 - Powers of arrest
Customs Act 1901
This item amends subsection 210(1A) of the Customs Act by omitting the words the offence of assaulting an officer in the execution of his duties and substituting an offence against section 147.1, 147.2 or 149.1 of the Criminal Code in relation to a Customs officer.
Subsection 210(1A) of the Customs Act authorises a Customs officer or police officer to arrest a person where the officer has reasonable grounds for believing that a person has committed the offence of assaulting an officer in the course of the execution of his duties. The reference to the offence of assaulting a Customs officer was a reference to paragraph 232A(b) of the Customs Act, which made it an offence to assault, resist, molest, obstruct or intimidate a Customs officer.
Amendments to the Customs Act made by the Criminal Code Amendment (Theft, Fraud, Bribery and Related Offences) Act 2000 mean that paragraph 232A(b) will no longer prohibit the conduct of assaulting a Customs officer. This conduct will instead be prohibited by sections 147.1, 147.2 and 149.1 of the Criminal Code 1995 . These sections relate to offences of doing harm to a public official, threatening to do harm to a public official and obstructing, hindering, intimidating or resisting a public official respectively.
The amendment to paragraph 232A(b) has had the unintended effect that Customs officers and police officers no longer have the power under subsection 210(1A) to arrest persons who are assaulting, resisting, molesting, obstructing or intimidating a Customs officer.
In order to restore Customs officers' and police officers power of arrest in these circumstances, it is proposed to amend subsection 210(1A) of the Customs Act to permit the power of arrest to be exercised when a person commits an offence against section 147.1 or 147.2 or 149.1 of the Criminal Code in relation to a Customs officer.