The Australian government's detainment of 157 Tamil asylum seekers on the high seas for a month last year was lawful, the High Court has ruled.
In a 4-3 majority decision announced on Wednesday afternoon, the court found that the 157 asylum seekers were legally detained by Australian authorities on the Customs vessel Ocean Protector and the asylum seekers, who are now in Nauru, were not entitled to any compensation.
Lawyers for the asylum seekers had argued during a two-day High Court hearing in October that the Australian government could have sent the group straight to Australia or Nauru once they were rescued from their boat which had suffered a pump failure 16 nautical miles off Christmas Island on June 29.
According to the judgment, the Customs vessel then sailed to India - where the asylum seekers were believed to have department from - under the direction of the national security committee of cabinet, which included then immigration minister Scott Morrison.
But there was no agreement that the asylum seekers would be able to disembark in India. The passengers were then detained for a "further period" until Mr Morrison decided that it was "not practicable" to discharge the asylum seekers, instead sending them to Cocos Island.
For four weeks the asylum seekers were detained on the boat where they were given allowed on limited hours of daylight before eventually being transferred to the offshore processing centre in Nauru.
In its ruling High Court said the detainment was lawful under the Migration Powers Act, which enables maritime officers to detain a person outside Australia.
