Former indefinite immigration detainees living in the community will not be forced to wear electronic monitoring ankle bracelets or follow curfews, with Australia’s highest court ruling them invalid.
The measures stemmed from a that ruled indefinite immigration detention was illegal. The ruling caused the abrupt release of 150 immigration detainees. As of mid-October this year, 215 immigration detainees had been released.
Of those, 143 have electronic monitoring bracelets, and 126 are subject to a curfew, after the federal government .
On Wednesday, the High Court found the legislation overreached the separation of powers between the courts, which can administer criminal punishment, and the commonwealth government.
The High Court bid was launched by a stateless Eritrean man who was released from immigration detention under the previous court ruling in November 2023, and was charged with six offences for failing to comply with curfew and monitoring.
Under the government’s conditions, breaking electronic monitoring restrictions or a curfew would result in a mandatory minimum one-year prison sentence.
“The imposition of each of the curfew condition and the monitoring condition on a (bridging visa R) is prima facie punitive and cannot be justified,” the High Court’s decision on Wednesday said.
The federal government had planned for all possible outcomes of the High Court case, including the possibility of further legislation, Home Affairs Department legal counsel Clare Sharp said.
