• Specific Year
    Any

Brungs, Marianna --- "Abolishing Child Sex Tourism: Australia's Contribution" [2002] AUJlHRights 17; (2002) 8(2) Australian Journal of Human Rights 101

[*] B.Sc B.Law (Hons) Sydney University MPhil Cantab. Marianna is currently a working solicitor.

[1] It is estimated that there are approximately 200,000 prostituted children in Thailand, 60,000 in the Philippines and 6,000 in Vietnam (Warburton & Camacho de la Cruz 1996).

[2] Ratification involves the incorporation of treaty provisions into domestic legislation.

[3] Child sex tourism breaches a number of general principles recognised by international human rights law, such as the right to life, liberty and security of the person under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the prohibition of slavery, servitude and forced labour under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).

[4] Australia ratified the CRC in December 1990.

[5] Art 1 defines a child as every human being below the age of eighteen years.

[6] Under the Measures to Combat Serious and Organised Crime Act 2001 (Cth).

[7] Although the decision is not available, ECPAT has collated further information about the case and its background (ECPAT 1999a).

[8] Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s 50FD(1).

[9] Under Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s 50FD(2) the court can consider other relevant factors, such as those listed in s 16A(2).

[10] This is also consistent with Article 8 of the CRC, which requires State Parties to ensure that the child victim’s best interests are a primary consideration under the criminal justice system.

[11] Under the Measures to Combat Serious and Organised Crime Act 2001 (Cth), commencing October 2001.

[12] Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), ss 15YB and 15YC.

[13] Ibid. s 15YF.

[14] The Government recognised this when the CST Bill was introduced. For example, Hansard 1994: 73.

[15] A potentially confounding factor is that a trial judge decision (Carr) is being compared with an appellate court decision (Lee).

[16] Justices Murray & Wallwork gave similar decisions.