State of New South Wales v Hickey (Preliminary)

The case before the court involved a preliminary hearing regarding an application for an interim detention order against the respondent, Hickey, under the Terrorism (High Risk Offenders) Act 2017. The State of New South Wales sought the order on the basis that Hickey posed an unacceptable risk of committing a serious terrorism offence. The application was made in light of Hickey’s history of propagating extreme right views and materials online, along with expressed grievances against the government and the judiciary. The court was tasked with determining whether Hickey met the threshold criteria for an unacceptable risk as prescribed by the Act.

The primary legal issue the court had to address was whether the State had satisfied the requisite degree of certainty to justify an interim detention order under the Act. The court considered whether Hickey’s persistent and extreme views, coupled with his grievances, constituted a concrete risk of a serious terrorism offence. Additionally, the court examined whether the risk scenarios presented were sufficiently concrete and linked to New South Wales. The court had to weigh the evidence and determine if there was enough to establish the unacceptable risk required for the interim detention order.

The court concluded that the evidence presented did not meet the requisite degree of certainty. While Hickey’s extreme views were well-documented and persistent, the risk scenarios proposed were speculative and lacked a concrete connection to New South Wales. The court found that the State had not established the necessary link between Hickey’s activities and a serious terrorism offence in the jurisdiction. Consequently, the court dismissed the summons for an interim detention order. The court’s decision underscored the necessity for a higher threshold of evidence in terrorism-related cases to protect individual rights while addressing potential risks.