Attorney-General Brandis has announced that the Australian Government will be ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“OPCAT”). In a speech given at the DFAT-NGO Forum on Human Rights in Canberra on Thursday 9 February, Mr Brandis announced that the Government intends to ratify OPCAT by December 2017. In his speech, Mr Brandis acknowledged Australia’s long history as a founding member of the United Nations, and noted it was “one of only eight nations involved in drafting of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.” He concluded:
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- Mon 13th Feb, 2017