Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 36

    (1)     In this section:

"act of torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person—

        (a)     for such purposes as—

              (i)     obtaining from the person or from a third person information or a confession; or

              (ii)     punishing the person for an act that the person or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed; or

              (iii)     intimidating or coercing the person or a third person; or

        (b)     for any reason based on discrimination of any kind;

but does not include an act arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions that are not inconsistent with the articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (being the covenant a copy of the English text of which is set out in the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986

(Cwlth), schedule 2.

    (2)     A person who—

        (a)     is a public employee or acting in an official capacity; or

        (b)     is acting at the instigation, or with the consent or acquiescence, of a public employee or a person acting in an official capacity;

and who commits an act of torture is guilty of an offence punishable, on conviction, by imprisonment for 10 years.