Contents

Chapter 4
Roles and responsibilities

Cabinet’s role

Designation of countries

4.62Particular parts of the Extradition Act may be applied to individual countries by the Governor-General by Order in Council on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, in consultation with Cabinet.146 Countries may also be declared to be “exempted countries” in this manner, which allows the requesting country to use the record of the case process under Part 3 of the Act.147 Both of these are effectively designations determining under which category a country falls.148

4.63In Chapter 6, we propose a new approach to the way in which countries should be categorised under the new Act. It follows that there will continue to be a need for decisions regarding which countries fall into which categories. In our view, this remains rightfully a Cabinet function because it requires the Government’s decision on how it will interact with another country. Foreign relations and political factors will necessarily weigh into these decisions.

146Extradition Act 1999, ss 16 and 40.
147Extradition Act 1999, s 17. The record of the case procedure is an aspect of the standard procedure for extradition, which may be used by countries that are “exempted” in this manner. It is discussed further in ch 7.
148The Extradition Act 1999 provides that Commonwealth countries, with the exception of Australia and any other designated country that is covered by pt 4, fall within pt 3 of the Act (s 13).