A man found not guilty of serious offences on the ground of insanity was nonetheless held indefinitely in ‘supervised custody’ in a maximum-security prison. The Committee found this was akin to preventive detention and arbitrary, resulting in serious psychological harm to Mr A.S.; and that he had been denied the ability to challenge the justification for his ongoing detention; denied reform and rehabilitation services; and contact with his family, in violation of articles 7, 9(1), 9(4), 10(3) and 17 of the ICCPR.

Bronson Blessington and Matthew Elliot were children who committed violent crimes for which they were sentenced to life in prison without parole. The UN Human Rights Committee found that children should never be sentenced to life in prison without a realistic chance of release and recommended Australia reform its laws without delay to ensure the possibility of release is realistic and regularly considered. The two men ought to be given the benefit of the revised legislation and compensated for breaches of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Robert Fardon was held in ‘preventive detention’ beyond the completion of a 14-year prison term for sexual offences. Queensland’s Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 allows prisoners deemed a threat to the community to be gaoled indefinitely. The HRC found Mr Fardon’s continued imprisonment without a new conviction to be arbitrary, retroactive and a violation of his fair-trial rights. It constituted a breach of the prohibition on imposing ‘a heavier penalty … than the one that was applicable at the time when the criminal offence was committed’. Further, the civil proceedings by which Mr Fardon’s continuing imprisonment was reviewed did not meet due process guarantees. An appropriate remedy would include ending his preventive detention, which occurred in 2013.