The Wire

The Australian Government has announced it will review the laws that enable it to co-operate with foreign governments on law enforcement issues. The Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison said that the mutual assistance laws, which govern cooperation, have come up for review because the legislation is 20 years out of date. The move comes as the Australian Federal Police continue to face heat over their co-operation with Indonesian police, which lead to the conviction of the so-called Bali 9 heroin smugglers. With six of the nine Australians now facing the death penalty, the extent of our cooperation with foreign jurisdictions has been questioned by civil libertarians, and the families of the convicted.