The Liberty of Non-citizens: Indefinite Detention in Commonwealth Countries

by Rayner Thwaites

Overview

The book addresses the legality of indefinite detention in countries including Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada, enabling a rich cross-fertilisation of experiences and discourses. The issue has arisen where a government is frustrated in its ability to remove a non-citizen subject to a removal order and employs a power to detain him until removal. The cases raise fundamental questions about the nature and extent of immigration powers, the legal position of non-citizens and counter-terrorism law and policy. More broadly, the judgments have become key reference points in discussions of constitutionalism, rights and a range of contemporary issues in public law.The book analyses the legal context, reasoning and implications of the case law on indefinite detention. It argues that the law of each jurisdiction contains ample resources to support a ruling that indefinite detention is illegal. It demonstrates that, taking into account variations in legal frameworks and doctrines, a judge's response to indefinite detention is determined by his or her answer to the question whether a non-citizen, subject to a removal order, retains a right to liberty. It details how a judge's answer flows through his or her adjudication on the scope of the relevant exception to liberty.The thesis on which the book is based won the 2010 Marks Medal from the University of Toronto Law Faculty for the best graduate thesis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849464314
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/25/2014
Series:	Hart Studies in Constitutional Law
Edition description:	UK ed.
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Rayner Thwaites is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Sydney.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements v

Table of Cases xi

Table of Legislation and Constitutional Provisions xix

Table of Conventions, Treaties etc xxv

Introduction

1 Introduction 3

1.1 Introduction 3

1.2 Shared Principles 12

1.3 Two Judicial Responses to Indefinite Detention of Non-Citizens 15

1.4 'Nationality-Differentiated Risk-Acceptability'? 20

1.5 Criticisms of 'Nationality-Differentiated Risk-Acceptability' 25

1.6 A Shared Commonwealth Legal Tradition? 28

1.6.1 Choice of Jurisdictions 28

1.6.2 Structural Differences 30

1.7 Plan of the Book 33

Australia

2 Limits on Immigration Detention 37

2.1 Introduction to the Australian Chapters 37

2.2 The Australian Legal Context 39

2.2.1 The Constitution and Federal Legislative Power 39

2.2.2 Common Law on Statutory Authority for Administrative Detention 44

2.3 Lim 46

2.3.1 Lim Introduced 46

2.3.2 The Separation of Judicial Power and Non-Citizens 48

2.3.3 Non-Citizens' Vulnerability to Removal and the Separation of Powers 50

2.3.4 Conclusions on Lim 54

2.4 Al Masri 55

2.4.1 Al Masri Introduced 55

2.4.2 Al Masri at First Instance 57

2.4.3 Al Masri in the Full Court of the Federal Court 59

2.4.4 Conclusions on Al Masri 63

3 Indefinite Detention of Aliens 65

3.1 Introduction to Al-Kateb 65

3.2 The Majority on Interpretation of the Detention Provisions 67

3.3 The Majority on the Constitutionality of Indefinite Detention 71

3.4 The Minority-Gleeson CJ 78

3.5 The Minority - Gummow and Kirby JJ 82

3.6 The Relevance of International Law to Interpretation 87

3.7 The Conditions of Detention 91

3.8 Conclusions on Al-Kateb 95

4 Al-Kateb Contested 99

4.1 Introduction 99

4.2 Administrative Measures 100

4.3 The Offshore Processing Case 103

4.4 Plaintiff M47: Al-Kateb Reconsidered (by some) 109

4.4.1 Plaintiff M47 Introduced 109

4.4.2 Al-Kateb should be Overruled 111

4.4.3 Al-Kateb should be Upheld 113

4.4.4 The Majority 116

4.5 Conclusion 118

United Kingdom

5 Prohibitions, Derogations and Deference 123

5.1 Introduction to the United Kingdom Chapters 123

5.2 Hardial Singh 126

5.3 Chahal 128

5.3.1 Chahal on Deportation 130

5.3.2 Chahal on Detention 132

5.4 The Legislative Response to Chahal: SIAC 135

5.5 The Human Rights Act 1998 137

5.6 Rehman and SIAC's Review Function 138

5.7 Derogations in the European Convention on Human Rights 142

6 Belmarsh in the United Kingdom Courts 145

6.1 The Measures at Issue in Belmarsh 145

6.2 Introduction to the Belmarsh Litigation 147

6.3 The Case before SIAC 149

6.3.1 Introduction 149

6.3.2 Proportionality and Discrimination 150

6.3.3 Conclusions on the SIAC Judgment 154

6.4 Belmarsh in the Court of Appeal 156

6.4.1 Lord Woolf CJ - the Erasure of Discrimination 156

6.4.2 Brooke LJ - the Alien as Enemy 161

6.4.3 Conclusions on Belmarsh in the Court of Appeal 162

6.5 The Certification Proceedings 163

6.6 Belmarsh in the House of Lords 164

6.6.1 The Existence of a Public Emergency 164

6.6.2 The Strictly Required Criterion 165

a Rejection of a Case-by-Case Analysis 166

b Deference 167

c The Applicable Standard of Review 171

6.6.3 Discrimination 173

a The Immigration Context 173

b Use of International Law 176

6.6.4 The Declaration of Incompatibility 179

6.7 Conclusion 182

7 The Periphery of Indefinite Detention 185

7.1 Introduction 185

7.2 Belmarsh in the European Court of Human Rights 186

7.2.1 Introduction to A v United Kingdom 186

7.2.2 The ECtHR on Article 5(1) 188

a 'action is being taken with a view to deportation' 188

b The Fair Balance Argument 190

c The ECtHR's Findings on the Facts 191

7.2.3 Conclusions on A v United Kingdom 192

7.3 The Legislative Response to Belmarsh 193

7.4 Substance - The Extent of the Obligations Imposed 196

7.4.1 The Effect of Control Orders 196

7.4.2 Court-Imposed Limits on the Obligations 199

7.5 Procedure - The Development of the Control Order Regime 202

7.6 The Change to TPIMs 207

7.7 The Position of Non-Citizens 210

7.8 Development of the Hardial Singh Principles 215

7.8.1 Confirmation and Elaboration of the Principles 215

7.8.2 The Consequences of Breach of a Public Law Duty 219

7.9 Conclusion 220

Canada

8 The Charter and Security Certificates 225

8.1 Introduction to the Canadian Chapters 225

8.2 Citizenship in the Constitution 226

8.3 Section 15 of the Charter 227

8.4 Section 7 of the Charter 230

8.4.1 Relationship between Section 7 and Section 1 of the Charter 230

8.4.2 Singh 232

8.4.3 Chiarelli 234

8.5 The Security Certificate Regime 237

8.6 Suresh 239

8.7 Federal Court Decisions Preceding Charkaoui 244

8.7.1 Decisions on Deportation to Torture 245

8.7.2 Consequences of the Suresh Exception 246

8.7.3 Review of Detention 248

9 Charkaoui's Procedural Solution 251

9.1 Charkaoui Introduced 251

9.2 Submissions of the Parties and Interveners 253

9.3 Section 7 Analysis of the Statutory Procedure 255

9.4 Unanswered Questions 259

9.4.1 Substantive Limits on Indefinite Detention? 259

9.4.2 Discriminatory against Non-Citizens? 262

9.5 The Court's Use of Comparative Authority 263

9.5.1 'Reasonably Necessary for Deportation Purposes' 263

9.5.2 'The IRPA… Does Not Authorise Indefinite Detention'? 266

9.6 Deportation to Torture and the Suresh Exception 268

9.7 The Missing Proportionality Analysis 270

9.8 Conclusions on Charkaoui 271

9.8.1 Principled Minimalism? 271

9.8.2 Commonalities between Charkaoui and Suresh 272

9.9 Bill C-3 274

9.10 Exits from the Security Certificate Regime 276

9.10.1 Charkaoui II 276

9.10.2 Exit 1 - Mr Charkaoui 279

9.10.3 Exit 2 - Mr Almrei 280

9.11 Conclusion 282

Conclusion

10 Conclusion 287

10.1 Introduction 287

10.2 Divergent Responses to a Common Issue 288

10.2.1 The Decisions of Courts of Other States 288

10.2.2 The Influence of International Law 291

a Australia - The Point of Entry for International Law 292

b The United Kingdom - The Meaning of Treaty Texts 293

c Canada - How Seriously are International Law Obligations Taken? 295

10.3 The Purpose(s) of Detention 296

10.3.1 'Segregation from the Community' or 'Dangerousness' 296

10.3.2 'Detention Pending Removal' 298

10.3.3 The Rights-Protecting Approach 299

10.4 Non-Citizens in Times of Threat 300

10.5 The Importance of Membership 301

10.6 The Integration of Rights and Immigration Control 305

10.7 Conclusion 306

Bibliography 309

Index 319

Editorial Reviews

The comparative nature of the book is one of its great strengths...The book's thesis is supported by sound and convincing legal analysis and benefits from persuasive and engaging writing.” —Australian Jourbanal of Administrative Law

“The Liberty of Non-Citizens is a must-read for academics and practitioners interested in immigration, human rights and national security law and provides a unique comparative contribution to scholarship on national security and immigration issues. Thwaites's attention to detail is impressive and indeed essential for illustrating the differences in interpretive approaches adopted in these jurisdictions.” —The Modern Law Review

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