Event description
Join two constitutional law experts to discuss Benbrika, in which the High Court upheld preventive detention for terrorism offences About this Event
In Minister for Home Affairs v Benbrika [2021] HCA 4, a majority of the High Court upheld the constitutional validity of a Commonwealth law that allows a State court to detain a person after the expiry of their sentence if they present an unacceptable risk of committing a terrorist offence. In powerful dissents, Gageler and Gordon JJ drew out the liberty interests at stake.
The ruling opens the door for preventive detention at the Commonwealth level and raises all kinds of questions like: What does the principle in Chu Kheng Lim mean now? What is the difference between the Kable doctrine and Ch III of the Constitution, if anything?