Sheikh Mansour Leghaei had to leave Australia after living here for 16 years because he was deemed a threat to national security, but he was never told why.
The 52-year-old was legally resident in Australia from 1994 to 2010 before he was sent back to Iran on alleged national security grounds.
The case was extensively covered at the time because of the impact it had on his family and local community, where he was Imam of an Islamic centre in Sydney.
As a result of the deportation, Sheikh Leghaei, his wife and Australian-born daughter, then aged 14, moved to Iran.
His twin sons, Australian citizens and then aged 26, and his 20-year-old son stayed in Australia.
The family has not been able to live together for the last five years.
Professor Ben Saul, who acted as Sheikh Leghaei's legal counsel for the UN case, said the Human Rights committee found that by sending the sheikh back to Iran, Australia was breaking up the family – and that is a breach of human rights.
“International human rights law states that family is the most fundamental basis of our society and that all governments have an obligation to protect the family,” he said.
Professor Saul said while the UN believes it is acceptable to deport people who present as a national security threat, a fair hearing must be given.
“The UN found that Australia hadn’t done that. As a result, there was an illegal and unjustifiable interference in the protected family life of Sheikh Laghaei, his children and his wife.”
In 1996, after spending the last two years in Australia on a working visa, Sheikh Leghaei applied for permanent residency. It was during this process that he was issued with an adverse security assessment by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
Professor Saul said while ASIO asserted he was a risk to Australia's national security, Sheikh Leghaei was never given an explanation for its decision.
"ASIO never provided him with disclosure of the reasons why he was considered a security risk.”
Professor Saul said Australia’s "extremely tough national security laws" state that if you’re not an Australian citizen, ASIO has no obligation to disclose to you any of the evidence it has against you.
“It really makes it impossible for a person to get a fair hearing [and] to challenge the reliability of the evidence against them, if they don't know what that evidence is," he said.
Since the UN's finding, there is renewed hope Sheikh Leghaei and his family can live together in Australia.
“[If] the UN calls out a country for doing the wrong thing, in response governments are expected to … live up to their bargain.
The UN process is not a strictly legally binding decision but Professor Saul said it's the most authoritative interpretation of Australia’s binding legal obligations under the international human rights treaty.
“That is to fully implement their human rights obligations, to protect his family, to give him due process, to let him know what he’s done wrong and to give him a decent chance to respond to the allegations.
“If at the end of all of that he still is, seems to be a national security risk because there is good evidence to establish that, then of course Australia has a right to expel him to Iran, but you’ve got to give him a fair process and prove it by evidence before you do that.”
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