A v Australia, Communication No. 560/1993, UN Doc CCPR/C/59/D/560/1993
What was at stake
Whether prolonged mandatory immigration detention of an asylum seeker (over three years) breached the prohibition on arbitrary detention and the right to judicial review of detention under ICCPR article 9.
What the court decided
Immigration detention is not arbitrary per se, but must be justified as reasonable, necessary and proportionate in the circumstances and reassessed as it continues. Australia breached article 9(1) and 9(4). The first major international ruling against Australia's mandatory detention regime.
Categories
Authoritative link
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