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A decision by the Federal Government on information-sharing protocols between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and foreign authorities could allow a repeat of the Bali Nine drug smuggling case, according to Amnesty International.
Last year, a parliamentary committee recommended the AFP "obtain guarantees" from foreign prosecutors that they would not pursue the death penalty before providing information relating to information on crimes such as drug trafficking.
The Government has now released its response, and argued there are difficulties in ensuring such promises are binding.
"An undertaking from a prosecutor not to seek to apply the death penalty may not be reliable where a court can still impose the death penalty," the Government's response stated.
"Generally speaking, the Government does not consider it appropriate to seek, or rely on, an undertaking from a prosecutor.
"In the instances where assurances have been provided to Australia, they have usually occurred at ministerial level."
The Government said fighting serious drug crimes remained a high priority.
"The Government's ability to detect, deter and prevent drug crimes would be impeded if Australia could not cooperate with states in the region that retain the death penalty."
In 2015, the AFP defended its decision to inform Indonesian authorities about the Bali Nine drug syndicate, with Commissioner Andrew Colvin saying officers did not have enough evidence to arrest the Australians before they left for Indonesia.
Two of the smugglers, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed in 2015.
Amnesty International raised concern with the Government's decision not to follow the recommendations, in an effort to avoid a repeat of that case.
"This is unfortunate, particularly as Australia has made a number of positive commitments in response to the inquiry," organisation spokesman Guy Ragen said.
"The Government's announcement that Australia is going to have a strategy to guide its advocacy against capital punishment in our region and around the world is strongly welcomed."
The Government did accept a number of recommendations in the report, including that "high risk" cases be directed to the Minister for a decision and that Australia continue its advocacy and opposition to the death penalty around the world.
Topics: community-and-society, law-crime-and-justice, drug-offences, australia