6 | Annual Performance Statement the case on other grounds, and the correctness of Al-Kateb was not determined. The NZYQ case applied to people who had been refused a visa by Australia, or had their visa cancelled, but who could not be removed to another country. There are a number of reasons why people cannot be removed from Australia. The most common one is that Australia has protection obligations to the person, either because the person is a refugee or because the person is at risk of other kinds of serious harm if they were returned to their home country. Some people cannot be removed from Australia because they are stateless, meaning there is no country they have a right to enter. Others have serious health problems that make travel impossible. In NZYQ, the High Court held that the government can hold a person in immigration detention while it processes their visa application, or while it makes arrangements to remove them from Australia if their visa is refused or cancelled. However, if there is no real prospect of removal becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future, then continuing to hold them in immigration detention, with no future release date, is unlawful. The reason for this is that further detention would not be related to any proper immigration purpose. It would be punitive, and detaining people for the purpose of punishment requires an order of a court. It is not something that the Government itself has the discretion to do. The ruling in NZYQ did not affect the criminal law and the ability of the Government to imprison people to serve a criminal sentence imposed by a court. Some people affected by the NZYQ decision had previously been convicted of an offence, but every person with an Australian conviction had already served their sentence before being placed in immigration detention. Every person released from immigration detention as a result of the NZYQ case is placed on a bridging visa with strict conditions to protect the safety of the community. A Community Protection Board provides informed, impartial and evidence-based recommendations about what conditions are appropriate in each person’s case. As at 30 June 2024, there were 178 32 The Commission’s team in Canberra: Louisa Wong, Patrick Knowles SC, Megan Caristo and Graeme Edgerton. people in the community on this kind of bridging visa. If circumstances change and they are able to be removed from Australia, they can be taken back into immigration detention to facilitate removal. The NZYQ case brings Australia’s immigration detention system into better alignment with article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 9 prohibits arbitrary detention, which includes detention that is unjust, unreasonable or disproportionate to a legitimate purpose. The Commission’s sustained advocacy over many years helped to achieve this outcome.