Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ACT 2002 - SECT 52

(1)

The Attorney-General may postpone the execution of a request for cooperation if, and only if:

(a)

the execution of the request would interfere with an ongoing investigation or prosecution in Australia involving different conduct from the conduct to which the request relates, and section 54 applies; or

(b)

a determination of admissibility is pending before the ICC, and section 55 applies; or

(c)

there are competing requests from the ICC and from a foreign country to which Australia is under an international obligation, and paragraph 56(2)(a) applies; or

(d)

the request is for assistance under paragraph 1(l) of article 93 of the Statute, and subsection 11(2) applies; or

(e)

the request involves a conflict with Australia's international obligations, and subsection 12(4) applies.

(2)

Even if subsection (1) applies to a request for cooperation, the Attorney-General may decide not to postpone the execution of the request and, in that event, the request must be dealt with in accordance with this Part.

(3)

If the Attorney-General postpones the execution of the request for cooperation, the postponement may be for a reasonable period and may, if the Attorney-General considers it desirable, be extended from time to time.