New Zealand citizens accused of rape and child sex offences in Australia are being let off without trials, reported The Australian.
In the past 18 months, five New Zealanders, accused of rape and child sex offences, were sent from New Zealand to Australia to face trial, only to be refused entry at the border or sent back overseas, Daily Mail reported.
The problem is due to Australia’s extradition system, reported The Australian.
‘The consequence of that is the victims of crime in Australia committed by New Zealand citizens are not seeing justice done,’ New Zealand Justice Minister Andrew Little told AAP.
In one case, according to Daily Mail, an extradited person appeared in an Australian court only to be released back to New Zealand without any consequences.
Justice was not served in such cases, Little said.
The reason could be due a confusion between state and federal police, where state police requested extraditions and federal authorities were cancelling them, Little told Daily Mail.
‘The way some immigration powers, particularly those allowing the deportation of people on character grounds ... is getting confused with extradition obligations,” he said.
“There have just been too many cases of recent occurrences and I think it is important for us to get some very clear guidance on how things are going to be handled,” he said.
Comments from Australia’s Department of Home Affairs have been requested, according to NewsCorp.
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