An inmate, who fractured a cop's back, is alleging human rights breaches while he was housed in Canberra's jail.
In an ACT Supreme Court decision published last week, Acting Justice Greg Curtin allowed a prisoner a time extension to sue the ACT government.
Derek Joseph Williams and Anthony Daniel McIver, both inmates at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, allege human rights breaches while they were behind bars.
McIver remains in jail after cutting another inmate's face with a "makeshift weapon" when he carried out "jailhouse justice" while on remand in 2021.
Williams was eligible for parole in June 2022, after fracturing a police officer's spine when he hit the other man with his car while speeding to avoid arrest.
They are two of about 13 prisoners at the jail who have commenced similar proceedings. McIver and Williams were selected by the court as "test cases".
The court action was launched after a ruling in 2022 found the jail had breached Nathan Davidson's human rights by denying him access to an adequate place to exercise.
However, last week, Acting Justice Curtin allowed Williams to continue with his claims but dismissed McIver's allegations.
Lawyers for Williams allege that for periods between 2019 and 2021 he was placed in solitary or separate confinement, and during this time he did not have access to at least one hour of open air and exercise each day.
In the published decision, Acting Justice Curtin stated when the ACT government was alleged to have breached "standards in relation to members of a generally powerless class of citizens, then those citizens should have the opportunity to ventilate their claim in court".
"Prisoners are punished for their crimes by being incarcerated according to the standards set by parliament and governments, not some lesser standard," the judge said.
The Corrections Management Act says that, as far as practicable, detainees must have access to the open air for at least one hour each day and can exercise for at least one hour each day.
McIver had argued that between 2020 and 2021, while on remand awaiting trial, he was housed in the same cell as a convicted prisoner. His lawyers stated this amounted to unlawful detention and was in breach of his human rights.
He was on remand while awaiting a trial on charges of being knowingly concerned in an aggravated burglary and an assault occasioning actual bodily harm on a pregnant woman. McIver was found not guilty of those charges.
Last week, Acting Justice Curtin found the unlawful detention claim was "futile" and did not grant leave for McIver to pursue his application.
