A controversial federal government bid to deport an immigration detainee to Nauru will face a High Court challenge after a legal not-for-profit launched proceedings.
The man is one of three detainees issued 30-year visas by Nauru in February after laws were passed in December to allow the government to pay third countries to take detainees.
The men belong to the "NZYQ cohort", non-citizens detained indefinitely as a risk to the community then released after a 2023 High Court ruling deemed the detention unlawful.
The detainees slated for deportation are violent offenders, with one convicted of murder, the government has said.
"The case, commenced in the High Court of Australia, argues that the decision to cancel the man's protection visa was made unlawfully and he should remain in Australia while the visa review process continues," the Human Rights Law Centre said.
Its client sought "urgent interim orders" to restrain the government from removing him to Nauru while the case continued.
The centre's associate director, Laura John, said the deportations "could set a dangerous precedent for the kind of treatment refugees and migrants are subjected to, both in Australia and around the world".
"It is deplorable for the Albanese Government to attempt to banish people from Australia before they have completed their visa review processes," she added.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In announcing the men's pending removal, he suggested more members of the NZYQ cohort could follow the trio to the tiny Pacific Island nation.
The government has not said how much it paid Nauru to take the three men.
The cohort's 2023 release grabbed headlines after the coalition seized on alleged reoffending to criticise the government for failing to keep them locked up following the High Court ruling.
