Life on parole after death sentence pardon

A murderer who escaped a death sentence more than 30 years ago will stay on parole for life.

Eris Censori was found guilty of the wilful murder of Perth waiter Michael Sideris in 1982 and sentenced to death.

But his death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

Censori was transferred to a Victorian jail and eventually released on parole in 1994.

Censori's parole included a five-year supervision order, but otherwise carried on "for the balance of his sentence", a Court of Appeal judgment on Thursday says.

The Italian citizen, who is a permanent Australian resident, was also handed new parole reporting and supervision orders last year following law reforms.

Censori applied to both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal in a bid to challenge his lifetime on parole, but twice lost.

In one of his many arguments, Censori claimed he was transferred to Victoria while still technically facing the death penalty, not prison.

That meant he wasn't subject to a sentence in Victoria, Censori argued, because the state abolished capital punishment in 1975.

He also said his parole should have ended when his five-year supervision period was over.

The Court of Appeal on Thursday disagreed with Censori and dismissed his case.

"Only one of the conditions referred to a five-year period for its operation," the court said.

"The other conditions were unlimited as to time."