The Prime Minister, John Howard, has played down Britain's strongest criticism yet of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The British Attorney-General, Lord Peter Goldsmith, says the prison camp is unacceptable and should be shut down.
Australian terror suspect, David Hicks, has been held there for more than four years.
He hopes to win British citizenship and join the nine detainees Britain has successfully forced the United States to release from the prison.
However, Mr Howard has told the A.B.C. Lord Goldsmith's criticisms won't influence his approach to David Hicks's case.
Mr Howard says if Mr Hicks comes back to Australia without having gone through any kind of military commission trial in the United States, he can't be charged here.
He says he does not regard that as a satisfactory outcome given the severity of the allegations against Mr Hicks.