Ankle bracelets and curfews imposed on former immigrant detainees will be removed, and Australia’s highest court will declare them invalid.
The measures arose from a High Court decision that ruled that indefinite detention was unlawful and resulted in the release of 215 detained immigrants until October 18, 2024.
Of them, 143 have electronic monitoring bracelets and 126 are subject to curfew after the Albanian government passed emergency legislation to add additional restrictions to the cohort.
The legislation exceeded the separation of powers between the courts, which administer criminal punishment, and the Commonwealth government, the High Court concluded.
Failure to comply with the bridging visa conditions, including electronic monitoring restrictions or curfew, would result in a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison.
“The imposition of each of the curfew and surveillance conditions on an (R bridging visa) is prima facie punitive and cannot be justified,” Wednesday’s High Court decision said.
The High Court nomination was made by a stateless Eritrean released from an immigration detention center under the previous court ruling in November 2023 and charged with six offenses for failing to comply with curfew and surveillance.
The federal government had foreseen all possible outcomes of the High Court case, including the possibility of additional legislation, Home Office legal adviser Clare Sharp said.
Pictured is a detainee released after last year’s High Court decision that indefinite detention is unlawful.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has been under pressure to resign since the release late last year of more than 150 detainees, including murderers and sex offenders. Giles (left) is pictured with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Neither the curfew nor the electronic control were applied to 64 people, 56 of whom already had at least one of the restrictions, which has cost the taxpayer more than 73 million dollars.
But the removal of restrictions includes the police arrest of 28 people.
Of the 215, there are 12 people convicted of murder or attempted murder, 66 for sexual crimes, 97 for assault, 15 for serious drug crimes, 15 for domestic violence, five for human trafficking and five for misdemeanors or no crimes.
Since their release, 62 people have been re-arrested at some point.
State and territory police have charged 65 people since his release, 20 of whom are in custody. The rest were in the community on bail or because their case had concluded.
In a joint statement, senior opposition figures, including Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan, described the latest High Court ruling as a shameful loss for the Albanian government.
“The Albanese Labor government must explain what it will do to keep the Australian people safe,” the statement said.
‘The effect of this decision will be that 215 dangerous non-citizen criminals, including 12 murderers, 66 sex offenders, 97 people convicted of assault, 15 domestic violence perpetrators and others, will be free in the community without any control or curfew.
65 of these former detainees have been charged with new crimes at state and territory level since their release, 45 of whom remain free in the community.
“This loss compounds the Albanian government’s failure to use pre-trial detention powers that parliament passed almost 12 months ago to re-arrest high-risk criminals.”
The opposition said they had been “repeatedly assured” by the Albanian government that the amendments were constitutionally sound and called on Immigration Minister Tony Burke to take urgent action.
