Asylum Seekers in Prison

See Commonwealth Ombudsman Report of an Own Motion Investigation into Immigration Detainees Held in State Correctional Facilities, March 2001, p.21.

O'Neill N. and Handley Robin , Retreat from Injustice: Human Rights in Australian Law, The Federation Press, 1994, p.145.

Holdsworth W. Sir , A History of English Law, Volume VI, reprint, Sweet and Maxwell, 1996, pp.34–40.

Binse v Governor of HM Prison, Barwon, Supreme Court of Victoria: Byrne J, 25 July, 2 August 1995 (1995) 8 VAR 508. See also the commentary on the case by Groves Matthew , (1996) 20 Criminal Law Journal 106, at 108.

Kable v The Director of Public Prosecutions (1997) 189 CLR 51. See McHugh J at 122.

Minister Orders Immigration Jail Change, Media Release, Wednesday, 4 April 2001, Minister for Corrections <www.dpc.vic.gov.au/domino/>.

Age, 27 June 2001 p.4.

Asylum seeker is defined in this article to include people who arrive unlawfully and are held in detention pending a decision on their application for a protection visa/temporary protection visa which depends on a decision whether they fall within the definition of a refugee asset out in the Refugees Convention. After that determination is made they should be released (pending character checks). Some refugees are held in prison if they commit a criminal offence or after their term is served while awaiting deportation.

See Pathways From War to Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms Amongst Tamil Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Immigrant, forthcoming in Journal of Traumatic Stress; and see Silove D. Steel Z. McGorry P. and Drobny J. , Problems Tamil Asylum Seekers Encounter in Accessing Health and Welfare Services in Australia, (1999) 49 Social Science and Medical Journal 51–6.

Information provided to the writer by telephone on Monday, 30 May 2001 by the Department of Immigration, Freedom of Information Section.

The Report of Inquiry into Immigration Detention Procedures, DIMA, February 2001.

The Report of Inquiry into Immigration Detention Procedures, February 2001 See detailed in a table marked as ‘Annexure B’ to the above report.

Letter dated 9 April 2001 to the writer from the Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner, Department of Justice, Victoria.

Letter dated 9 April 2001 to the writer from the Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner, Department of Justice, Victoria.

Goddard Jane and Patel Arthi , The Immigration Kit: A Practical Guide to Australia's Immigration Law, The Immigration Refugee Service, 4th edn, The Federation Press, 1995. Also the UNHCR Guidelines, Geneva, 1997 indicate that separation of criminals and asylum seekers is to be facilitated.

Executive Summary, The Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report of an Own Motion Investigation into The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs' Immigration Detention Centres, Report under s.35A of the Ombudsman Act 1976, March 2001, p.3.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report of an Own Motion Investigation into The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs' Immigration Detention Centres, Report under s.35A of the Ombudsman Act 1976, March 2001, p.28.

Ruddock v Vadarlis [2001] FCA 1329.

Commonwealth Ombudsman Report of an Own Motion Investigation into Immigration Detainees Held in State Correctional Facilities, March 2001.

Somerset v Stewart, 14 May 1772, Easter Term, 12 GEO. 3, 1772, KB 499.

Somerset v Stewart, above, at 501.

R v Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge (1723) 93 ER 698, 702–3.

Phillips Hood O. , The Constitutional Law of Great Britain, 2nd edn, Sweet and Maxwell, London, 1957 pp.221–479.

Queen v Kirby and Others; ex parte Boilermakers' Society of Australia (1955–1956) 94 CLR 254 (the Boilermaker's case).

Kable v Director of Public Prosecutions (1997) 189 CLR 51 at 121 and 124.

Dawson Brennan and Deane JJ (1992) 176 CLR 1 at 37.

This includes the privilege against self incrimination. See Sorby v Commonwealth (1983) 152 CLR 181 at 309; Petty & Maiden v R (1992) 102 ALR 129 on the right to silence, Leeth v The Commonwealth (1992) 174 CLR 455 on equality of all citizens before the law.

Reid v Howard (1995) 184 CLR 1, at 5.

ACTV (1992) 177 CLR 106; Wentworth v New South Wales Bar Association (1992) 177 CLR 1 at 43; and Coco v R (1994) 179 CLR 427 at 436–8.

Ruddock v Vadarlis, above, ref 18.

In Sillery v R (1981) 180 CLR 353 at 362, protection from cruel and unusual punishment was recognised as a right by Murphy J.

<www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree>.

Adopted UN General Assembly, 9 December 1988: UNGA res 43/173.

See for further discussion, Poynder N. , ‘The Incommunicado Detention of Boat People: A Recent Development in Australia's Refugee Policy’, Australian Journal of Human Rights <www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin…2> p.3.

See Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh (1995) 183 CLR 273.

Chu Kheng Lim v Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs (1992) 176 CLR 1; Wells B. , Aliens: ‘The Outsiders in the Constitution’, (1996) 19 University of Queensland Law Journal 45.