Preventive Detention for Dangerous Offenders in Australia: A Critical Analysis
Preventive Detention for ‘Dangerous’ Offenders in Australia: A Critical Analysis and Proposals for Policy Development
Report to the Criminology Research Council
December 2006
[Funded by Grant CRC 03/04-05]
Professor Bernadette McSherry Louis Waller Chair of Law, Monash University Associate Professor Patrick Keyzer University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law Professor Arie Freiberg Dean, Monash University, Faculty of Law
ii
Preventive Detention for Dangerous Offenders in Australia
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Rachel Kessel, Brad Johnson and Joanna Kyriakakis for their research assistance and Kathleen Patterson for helping to organise the Focus Groups and edit the Report. We would also like to thank the Criminology Research Council for financial support and the participants of the Focus Groups carried out in Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane for giving up their valuable time to help us with our research.
Summary
The management of ‘dangerous’ offenders is of crucial community concern. This report focuses on the key debates concerning the policy and legal issues raised by post-sentence preventive detention. It analyses focus group discussions carried out in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne concerning three different management regimes for high-risk sex offenders: post-sentence continued detention in prison, indefinite detention, and extended supervision orders in the community. It recommends that consideration be given to the new Scottish model of life-long restriction orders, arguing that post-sentence preventive detention should be seen as a last resort in the management of high-risk offenders.
Preventive Detention for Dangerous Offenders in Australia
iii
iv
Preventive Detention for Dangerous Offenders in Australia
Contents
1. Chapter One: Introduction...................................................... 9
1.1 Scope of the report ............................................................................ 9
Report to the Criminology Research Council
December 2006
[Funded by Grant CRC 03/04-05]
Professor Bernadette McSherry Louis Waller Chair of Law, Monash University Associate Professor Patrick Keyzer University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law Professor Arie Freiberg Dean, Monash University, Faculty of Law
ii
Preventive Detention for Dangerous Offenders in Australia
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Rachel Kessel, Brad Johnson and Joanna Kyriakakis for their research assistance and Kathleen Patterson for helping to organise the Focus Groups and edit the Report. We would also like to thank the Criminology Research Council for financial support and the participants of the Focus Groups carried out in Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane for giving up their valuable time to help us with our research.
Summary
The management of ‘dangerous’ offenders is of crucial community concern. This report focuses on the key debates concerning the policy and legal issues raised by post-sentence preventive detention. It analyses focus group discussions carried out in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne concerning three different management regimes for high-risk sex offenders: post-sentence continued detention in prison, indefinite detention, and extended supervision orders in the community. It recommends that consideration be given to the new Scottish model of life-long restriction orders, arguing that post-sentence preventive detention should be seen as a last resort in the management of high-risk offenders.
Preventive Detention for Dangerous Offenders in Australia
iii
iv
Preventive Detention for Dangerous Offenders in Australia
Contents
1. Chapter One: Introduction...................................................... 9
1.1 Scope of the report ............................................................................ 9