The Fremantle Declaration was a restatement and affirmation of legal and human rights principles in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

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It was signed in Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 by all of the Attorneys-General of all the Australian States and territories on November 10, 2006. It was not signed by the Commonwealth Attorney-General

Attorney-General of Australia

The Attorney-General of Australia is the first law officer of the Crown, chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia and a minister of the Crown. The Attorney-General is usually a member of the Federal Cabinet, but there is no constitutional requirement that this be the case since the...

 Philip Ruddock

Philip Ruddock

Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...

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The text of the declaration

The full text of the declaration is:

We, the Attorneys General of the governments of Australia, declare and affirm our commitment to the
following principles:

1. the right to a fair trial
   Fair Trial
   Fair Trial was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. He was bred and raced by John Arthur Dewar who also bred and raced Tudor Minstrel....
   
   ;
2. the principle of habeas corpus
   Habeas corpus
   is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
   
   ;
3. the prohibition on indefinite detention without trial;
4. the prohibition on torture
   Torture
   Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
   
   ;
5. access to rights under the Geneva Conventions
   Geneva Conventions
   The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
   
   ;
6. the separation of powers
   Separation of powers
   The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
   
   ; and
7. the prohibition on the death penalty.

These are fundamental norms of the Australian legal system and we, as Attorneys General, are
responsible for ensuring that these principles are upheld in our jurisdictions.
Australia has signed and committed to international treaties and conventions in which these rights are
protected: the Geneva Conventions, the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and
the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment.

We reaffirm our commitment to these international agreements and principles.

Signatories

The Fremantle Declaration was signed by Bob Debus

Bob Debus

Robert John "Bob" Debus AM , a former Australian politician, has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the Australian Labor Party. Debus has been a minister in both the Australian and New South Wales governments...

, the Attorney-General of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Simon Corbell

Simon Corbell

Simon Corbell is an Australian politician in the Australian Capital Territory, and is one of the seven members of the Legislative Assembly electorate of Molonglo, representing the Australian Labor Party...

, the Attorney-General of the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

, Rob Hulls

Rob Hulls

Rob Justin Hulls has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1996, representing the electorate of Niddrie. As well as previously serving as the Deputy Premier of Victoria, he was also the state Attorney-General and Minister for Racing.Rob Hulls was born in Melbourne and was...

, the Attorney-General of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Kerry Shine

Kerry Shine

Kerry Gerard Shine is the Australian Labor Party representative of the seat of Toowoomba North in the Queensland Legislative Assembly.He first ran for election in the 1998 state election...

, the Attorney-General of Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Michael Atkinson

Michael Atkinson

Michael John Atkinson , an Australian politician, was the South Australian Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, and Minister for Multicultural Affairs in the Rann Labor Government. A day after the 2010 election, he stepped down as Attorney-General and resigned...

, the Attorney-General of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, Steven Kons, the Attorney-General of Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

, Jim McGinty

Jim McGinty

James Andrew McGinty is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1996...

, the Attorney-General of Western Australia, and Syd Stirling

Syd Stirling

Sydney James "Syd" Stirling is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2008....

, the Attorney-General of the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

.

The Commonwealth Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock

Philip Ruddock

Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...

, was not a signatory of the declaration.

Genesis of the declaration

Although the declaration itself does not make any explicit reference to current events, it is generally recognised as a response to the extended incarceration, without trial, of Australian David Matthew Hicks by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 at Guantanamo Bay

Guantanamo Bay detainment camp

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...

, and the detention of refugees to Australia under the policies of the Commonwealth Government led by Australian Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

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