The excessive use of force by police or inhumane treatment of persons in police custody undermines the integrity of a State’s operations. It also breaches the right to life and the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (ill-treatment) which are protected by ss 9 and 10 of the Victorian Charter.
The Victorian Government is required by the Charter to ensure independent and effective institutions and procedures are established to investigate and monitor potential breaches of the rights to life and the right to freedom from ill-treatment by police with the aim of bringing to justice those who breach those rights and also preventing similar incidents from happening in the future.
Further, the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment envisages the implementation of monitoring bodies to monitor the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in order to prevent deaths and ill-treatment in places of detention (relevantly including police custody facilities).
The Human Rights Law Resource Centre has made a Submission to the Victorian State Services Authority’s review into the integrity and anti-corruption system which sets out the human rights framework and principles which should guide reforms to Victoria’s integrity and anti-corruption system.
The Centre makes a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring that the potential breaches of the right to life and the right to freedom from ill-treatment by the police, both through the use of force and the deprivation of liberty, are appropriately and adequately investigated and monitored by a truly independent body.
