CRPD/C/16/D/7/2012 Corrective Services also conducted an internal review and made seven recommendations to modify the testing procedures for prison offences. Six of the recommendations are being implemented, and training programmes on prison offence prosecutions have been developed. The State party acknowledges that the error clearly caused the author frustration and distress, but it considers that it does not amount to degrading treatment and punishment. 4.19 The State party considers that the author’s allegations that the conditions imposed on his release amount to arbitrary detention or degrading treatment are inadmissible, because the author is no longer detained, and he has failed to exhaust domestic remedies that could result in an alteration of the conditions to which he objects. In the alternative, Australia submits that the allegations lack merit, as the conditions imposed on the author are reasonable and appropriate to permit his reintegration, while protecting the safety of the community. 4.20 Regarding the author’s allegation that the Mentally Impaired Defendants Act violates article 5 of the Convention, the State party submits that the Act does not treat persons any differently because of their disabilities, but provides for the differential treatment of people found “unfit to stand trial”. The State party acknowledges that the Act is likely to disproportionately affect those who may meet those criteria for reasons associated with a disability. However, it considers that such differential treatment is legitimate, as endorsed by many United Nations treaty bodies,31 and that article 5 of the Convention should be interpreted in accordance with that approach. 4.21 The State party submits that the Act also aims at protecting the community. 32 Legislation providing for specific procedures, including custody orders for those who are found unfit to plead, is a standard feature of other jurisdictions in Australia 33 and abroad.34 Once an individual has been made subject to a custody order pursuant to the Act, periodic reviews are conducted by the Review Board.35 Detailed reports are prepared by a senior advisory officer, including a recommendation as to whether the person should be released. 36 4.22 The Act also provides safeguards to ensure that decisions are made by an independent and well-informed judicial body; that an accused person who is found unfit to stand trial can still be released at the court’s discretion; and that decisions under the Act can be appealed. The framework therefore provides a reasonable and proportionate method to 31 32 33 34 35 36 The State party refers to the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee in communication No. 983/2000, Love et al. v. Australia, Views adopted on 25 March 2003, para. 8.2. It also refers to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20 (2009) on nondiscrimination in economic, social and cultural rights, para. 13; Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendations No. 32 (2009) on the meaning and scope of special measures in the Convention, para. 8, No. 14 (1993) on article 1 (1) of the Convention, para. 2, and No. 30 (2005) on discrimination against non-citizens, para. 4, and the concluding observations of the Committee concerning the thirteenth and fourteenth periodic reports of Australia (CERD/C/AUS/CO/14), para. 24; Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 5 (2003) on general measures of implementation of the Convention, para. 12; Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, communication No. 12/2007, G.D. and S.F. v. France, decision of inadmissibility adopted on 4 August 2009, para. 12.15. See Lord Bingham Chief Justice in R. v. Antoine (1999), p. 227. See also the speech of Lord Bingham in R. v. H. and SSHD (2003) in Peter Bartlett and Ralph Sandland, Mental Health Law: Policy and Practice (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007). See Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 (Victoria), sect. 26 (2), Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (South Australia), sect. 269O, and Criminal Code Act 1983 (Northern Territory), sect. 43ZA. The State party refers to the Criminal Procedure (Insanity and Unfitness to Plead) Act 1991 of the United Kingdom, sect. 3 (2) and schedule 2. Ibid., pp. 4 and 7. Ibid., sects. 33 (3) and (5). 9