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[2016] FCCA 1089
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ATR15 v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2016] FCCA 1089 (20 May 2016)
Last Updated: 15 June 2016
FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA
ATR15 v MINISTER FOR
IMMIGRATION & ANOR
|
|
Catchwords: MIGRATION – Judicial review
– application for leave out of time – visa cancelled –
pursuant to s116(1)(e)
of the Migration Act 1975 (Cth).
|
First Respondent:
|
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & BORDER
PROTECTION
|
|
ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL
|
REPRESENTATION
Counsel for the
Applicant:
|
Ms Latif
|
Solicitors for the Applicant:
|
Victoria Legal Aid
|
Counsel for the Respondents:
|
Mr Goodwin
|
Solicitors for the Respondents:
|
Australian Government Solicitor
|
ORDERS
(1) That the time for the applicant to seek judicial review of the decision of
the Tribunal dated 21 August 2015 be enlarged.
(2) A writ of certiorari issue directed to the second respondent quashing the
decision of the Tribunal dated 21 August 2015.
(3) A writ of mandamus issue directed to the second respondent requiring it to
determine the application made to it for review of
the decision of a delegate of
the first respondent dated 14 October 2014 2015 according to
law.
(4) The first respondent is to pay the applicant’s
costs.
NOTATION: These orders have been amended pursuant to rule 16.05(2)(e) of
the Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 to reflect the
deletion of the number “2015” and insertion of the number
“2014” in Order 3
FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA AT
MELBOURNE
|
MLG 2482 of
2015
Applicant
And
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & BORDER
PROTECTION
|
First Respondent
ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL
|
Second Respondent
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
AS CORRECTED
- The
applicant applies for leave out of time for judicial review of the decision made
by the Tribunal. As there has been some criticism
of the way the Federal Circuit
Court of Australia (“FCC”) deals with applications for leave out of
time I will state
from the outset that both counsel sought the leave application
and the substantive merits of the judicial review.
Background
- This
matter has a lengthy and somewhat concerning history.
- The
applicant is stateless. He was born in Myanmar and fled there when he was 3
years old.
- He
travelled to Australia by boat in April 2012.
- The
applicant applied for a protection visa in August 2012.
- In
July 2014 the Refugee Review Tribunal found that the applicant was a refugee and
remitted for consideration of the remaining criteria
for a grant of a protection
visa.
- The
applicant was granted a bridging visa on 13 September 2012 whilst his
application for a protection visa was being considered.
- The
applicant’s bridging visa was cancelled on 10 October 2014. The applicant
was taken into immigration detention where he
remains.
- The
applicant applied for a review of the cancellation decision on 14 October 2014.
The Tribunal considered his application and affirmed
the department’s
decision to cancel his bridging visa.
- The
applicant applied to the FCC for judicial review and was successful. The FCC
quashed the decision and remitted for redetermination
according to law noting
that the second respondent erred when refusing the applicant’s request for
an adjournment without considering
its discretion under section 367(2) of the
Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and that this amounted to legal
unreasonableness. The FCC orders were made on 20 February 2015.
- The
applicant was invited to appear before the second Tribunal on 5 March 2015. The
hearing was on 10 March 2015. The applicant had
been transferred to immigration
detention in Western Australia and the invitation was issued without taking into
account the public
holidays and the different time zone between Western
Australia and Victoria. The Tribunal affirmed the delegate’s decision
and
again the applicant applied to the FCC for judicial review. Again the applicant
was successful in orders were made on 1 July
2015 were made quashing the
Tribunal’s decision and remitting the matter from redetermination
according to law. This time the
decision breached Regulation 4.21(2)(b)(i) of
the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) by not providing sufficient notice
for the hearing.
- The
applicant was invited to attend a hearing before the third Tribunal on 9 July
2015. The applicant attended a hearing on 18 and
19 August 2015 and was assisted
by his migration agent and a Burmese interpreter.
- The
Tribunal affirmed the delegate’s decision on 24 August 2015.
- The
applicant seeks to review that decision.
- The
applicant has filed separate proceedings invoking the original jurisdiction of
the High Court of Australia with respect to his
protection visa where despite
him being found to be a refugee some two years ago a decision about whether or
not he needs balance
of the criteria for a protection visa has not yet been
determined.
- The
circumstances of this leading up to the cancellation of the applicant’s
bridging visa are as follows.
Circumstances leading to cancellation of the applicant’s
visa
- The
applicant attended the scheduled fortnightly meeting with his case officer at
the Adult Migration Education Service office (“AMES”).
Appearing at
Court Book (“CB”) pages 10 to 12 is a detailed incident report. It
summarised an incident taking place on
3.00pm on 7 October 2014 during this
appointment where the applicant became angry about his visa, he was frustrated
that it was taking
so long to assess the balance of his visa application after
being found to be a refugee. He referred to other friends who had come
to
Australia on protection visas the same time as him who had been granted their
visas. The applicant said that he was experiencing
financial hardship and the
case manager observed that the client’s anger increased. The applicant
made comments in English
“I hate Australian’s [sic] and I want to
join Isis the Islamic States group and kill Australian’s [sic]”
and “if I see Tony Abbott somewhere I will kill him”.
- The
case manager records that he advised the applicant that his comments were very
serious and could be regarded as a breach of the
code of conduct he signed. It
records that the applicant responded “I don’t care nothing is
important to me anymore.” The case manager continued the fortnightly
assessment and referred him to emergency relief services with respect to his
financial
difficulties.
- The
case manager then records talking to the team leader at 4.30pm that day. The
team leader spoke to the program manager the next
day who also reported the
incident to the director of the ASAS program. The team leader reported the
incident to the incident report
hotline. The case was reallocated to another
case worker due to conflict of interest.
- The
notice of intention to consider cancellation of the applicant’s bridging
visa appears at CB 13. It refers to the power to
cancel pursuant to section 116
of the Migration Act. The letter highlights section 116(1)(e). That
section has since been amended.
- The
applicant was given the letter and decision and advised to give a written
response as to why his visa should not be cancelled
and states at CB 14 that the
applicant must respond in writing within 20 minutes of receiving the
letter.
- The
letter states that his written response will be taken into account in that the
decision maker will consider matters such as:
- The
purpose of the applicant’s travel and stay in Australia;
- The
extent of the applicant’s non-compliance with any visa conditions;
- The
degree of hardship which may be caused to the applicant and his family if his
visa is cancelled;
- The
circumstances in which the ground for cancellation arose;
- His
behaviour which set to the Department now and on previous
occasions.
- It
is hard to imagine how anyone in the applicant’s position even if English
was his first language would be in a position to
provide a meaningful response
to that letter in a 20 minute timeframe.
- The
letter confirming the cancellation of his visa appears at CB 16 and 18. It
records that the applicant was interviewed on 10 October
2014 that his comments
were taken into account. The decision confirmed the cancelation of his visa. The
decision records that the
applicant initially admitted to an interpreter that he
made threats but that he had said those things out of frustration with the
visa
application process and that he was not serious. He denied making threats
against the Prime Minister. After the interpreter
left he changed his statements
saying that the interpreter did not interpret correctly denied making any
threats against Australia
and denied saying that he wanted to join a terrorist
group.
- The
decision maker accepted the advice from AMES and accepted that the applicant
stated that he wanted to join a known terrorist organisation:
- [W]hile I
consider these threats may have been made out of frustration and had he claims
that he was never serious, I find that just
making them is of great concern
because the visa holder should be aware that such comments will be taken
seriously. It is also concerning
that Isis, the organisation he claims he wants
to join, has also declared ‘war’ on Australians. I am unable to
ignore
the threat of such a serious nature in the current
environment.
Out of time application
- The
applicant filed his current application for judicial review 6 weeks out of
time.
- Pursuant
to section 477(2) of the Migration Act an applicant must file an
application for judicial review within 35 days of the migration decision being
made. The FCC has a discretion
to extend the time pursuant to s.477(2) which
states:
- (a) an
application for that order has been made in writing to the Federal Circuit Court
specifying why the applicant considers that
it is necessary in the interests of
the administration of justice to make the order; and
- (b) the
Federal Circuit Court is satisfied that it is necessary in the interests of the
administration of justice to make the order.
- Rule
44.05 of the Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 (Cth) provides
that:
- (1) An
application for a remedy to be granted in exercise of the Court’s
jurisdiction under section 476 of the Migration Act in relation to a migration
decision must be made in accordance with the approved form.
- (2) An
application must be supported by an affidavit including:
- (a) a copy
of the decision in relation to which the remedy is sought and any statement of
reasons for the decision; and
- (b) any
document or other evidence the applicant seeks to rely on; and
- (c) if an
extension of time is sought – the evidence explaining the delay and
showing why it is necessary in the interests
of the administration of justice
for the Court to grant an extension.
- The
applicant filed his application for judicial review on the November 2015. This
makes his application to 6 weeks out of time.
- He
has satisfied section 477(2)(a) of the Migration Act. The applicant
relies on an affidavit filed by his solicitor on 8 March 2016. She gives the
following explanations:
- She
describes the difficulties in obtaining instructions from immigration detainees
in general but particularly when immigration detainees
held in remote detention
because of limited access to telephones and computers and difficulties in
ensuring that clients receive
documents. She says detainees can be transferred
between centres without notice and all of these factors contribute to
delay;
- She
refers to the workload pressures on legal aid solicitors with limited
resources;
- She
then gives specific evidence about the applicant’s circumstances. The
applicant had been transferred from Yongah detention
centre in remote Western
Australia to Maribyrnong immigration detention centre in order to give evidence
at the hearing of the third
Tribunal hearing. It understood that he was due to
be transferred back to Western Australia within two days of the decision. She
visited him in detention the day after she received the decision. Her client was
very distressed about the outcome of the decision
and she thought he was
mentally unwell. The applicant instructed her to make enquiries about the status
of his protection visa. She
says it was difficult to take instructions and give
him detailed legal advice about the Administrative Appeals Tribunal’s
decision
and possible grounds for judicial review because of his remoteness and
level of distress;
- She
was unwell and out of the office on 26 and 27 August 2015 and 2 and 3 September
2015;
- On
around 3 September 2015 she conducted a merits assessment of the decision and
formed the view that there were reasonable prospects
of success. Victoria Legal
Aid guidelines require a second opinion as to the merit and she sent an email to
Ms Latif of Counsel requesting
her opinion;
- Between
3 September 2015 and 10 October 2015 she unsuccessfully sought information about
the progress of the applicant’s protection
visa;
- The
applicant contacted her on 9 October 2015 to advise her that he had been moved
to Christmas Island detention centre in the early
hours of the morning without
notice and that all his documents and most of his clothing had gone missing. She
describes the difficulties
she had in contacting him in getting documents to him
and receiving them back from Christmas Island;
- The
applicant was very distressed about this transfer to Christmas Island she was
again concerned about his mental health and as a
result she had difficulty
obtaining instructions from him at the time;
- Between
15 September 2015 and 29 October 2015 she continued to make enquiries with
senior department case managers as to the status
of the applicant’s
outstanding protection visa application but was unable to get a substantive
response;
- The
applicant telephoned her on 5 November 2015 and told her that he was in hospital
after being attacked by another detainee and
was in seclusion. She says given
this development and her lack of success in getting a response about the
progress of his protection
visa she decided it was in his best interest to file
an application for judicial review as soon as possible. She filed the
application
for judicial review the next day.
- The
first respondent resists the application for leave to be granted out of time.
In written and oral submissions the first respondent’s
counsel was
critical of the applicant’s explanation for delay raising the following
issues:
- The
applicant’s solicitor does not say when she received advice from
counsel;
- The
applicant has not provided an adequate explanation for the delay and in
particular with respect to the period between 3 September
and 28 September
2015;
- The
application is not signed by the applicant and so the inference could be drawn
that his solicitor was not authorised to sign the
application on his behalf.
This consistent with the applicant signing a request to be removed from
Australia.
- The
respondent makes the point that the prescribed period in the legislation should
not be lightly dispensed with. It is not simply
a matter of forming the view
that 6 weeks is a relatively short delay. Rather the Court must consider the
factors set out in s.477(2) and the principles set out in numerous authorities
including MZABP v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2015]
FCA 1391 and SZTES v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
[2015] FCA 719. I accept that submission.
- The
first respondent argues that he is prejudiced by having to commit resources to
defend an application where no adequate explanation
has been provided. The
applicant says in response to this that it is not a matter of prejudice but
simply the by-product of litigation.
In some circumstances this could amount to
prejudice between where the delay is lengthy, there is a lack of adequate
explanation
for delay and the merits of the case are weak. In this case the
first respondent has prepared submissions with the respect to the
out of time
application and the substantive issue together and the matters were heard
together. Unless the proceedings are vexatious
or so unmeritorious they should
not be dismissed on the first return date. It cannot be correct that merely
having to respond to
an application is prejudicial as that would stifle a
person’s right to commence litigation which would be the antithesis to
our
legal system. None of those factors are applicable in this case.
- Contrary
to the first respondent’s submissions I find that the applicant has
provided a detailed explanation for the delay.
The reasons are not merely
generic but also relate the applicant’s particular circumstances. It has
to be seen in the context
of a person who was found to be a refugee but has been
waiting for more than two years for that application to be finalised, who
is
distressed and in detention. In the circumstances of his case it was reasonable
to follow up on the status of his protection visa
before filing an application
of judicial review given the delay in having that application finalised and the
number of times his
case has already been remitted to the Tribunal. The
difficulties of contacting and taking instructions from a detainee are obvious.
Whilst initially he was in a local detention centre he was soon moved to a
remote one and the difficulties are compounded there.
This was exemplified by
the difficulties during the hearing. The applicant was to attend the hearing via
videolink from Christmas
Island. The video did not work at all. He was able to
attend by telephone but that connection was lost part way through the hearing
and could not be reconnected. His legal representatives had foreshadowed with
him that that could happen and had instructions to
proceed.
- The
respondent’s legal representative submitted that it could be assumed that
the applicant’s solicitor did not have authority
to file the application
for judicial review. This was because of the solicitor saying that she thought
it was in her clients’
best interests to file the application after her
client was attacked by another detainee and because the applicant did not sign
the
application.
- The
first respondent’s solicitor filed an affidavit on 22 March 2016 and
annexed a request for removal from Australia form signed
by the applicant on 24
September 2015. Significantly the form indicates that he did not discuss it with
his legal representative
and did not need an interpreter. The second annexure is
a withdrawal of request for removal form where he indicates he did discuss
it
with his legal representative and did have the assistance of an interpreter.
That form is dated 25 November 2015.
- The
allegation against the applicant’s solicitor is a serious one as it
suggests misconduct on her part. A careful examination
of the annexures to the
respondent’s solicitors reveals that it would be dangerous to assume that
the applicant’s solicitor
had any knowledge of her client’s request
to be removed from Australia. She says in her affidavit that he has expressed a
wish
at times to be sent to Cambodia and other countries. She says this has
arisen in the context of his distress at being in detention
and having been
successful before the FCC twice before.
- The
criticism that the applicant did not sign the application is entirely without
merit. The form itself clearly provides for either
the applicant or the legal
representative to sign the form. If she had insisted that her client sign the
form there would have been
further delay in getting the form to him, having the
content of the form interpreted to him, having him sign and return it.
- I
find it is in the interests of justice to grant the applicant leave to proceed
out of time. As the merits of his claims were fully
argued before me I will
address the merits in the next section.
The applicant’s claims
- The
applicant relies on the following grounds for judicial review:
- The
second respondent misconstrued the term “good order” as it appears
in s.116(1)(e) of the Migration Act and thereby made a legal error
amounting to jurisdictional error. The Tribunal erred in its construction of the
term “good
order” by:
- Failing
to conduct an assessment of the risk to the good order of the Australian
community that took account of all relevant considerations;
- Misconstruing
or misapplying relevant jurisprudence;
- Defining
“good order” narrowly and focusing only on the words spoken
constituting a threat, not the context in which the
threat was
made.
- The
second respondent erred by failing to consider relevant considerations bearing
upon the exercise of the discretion to cancel a
visa under s.116(1)(e): compare
Procedural Advice Manual 3 on the exercise of the power to cancel visas. The
applicant refers to and repeats paragraph 1(a)-(c)
and says further, the
Tribunal also failed to consider:
- The
applicant’s express claim to have been assaulted, detained in isolation
and left unable to access medical attention whilst
in immigration
detention;
- The
applicant’s claims about the circumstances in which the threat was
made;
- The
applicant’s claims and integers of claims
cumulatively.
- Section
116(1)(e) contains a two limb approach. The first limb is to find whether or not
grounds for cancellation exist. The second limb is to exercise
the discretion as
to whether or not to cancel the visa. The applicant argues that the Tribunal
erred in both limbs.
- Both
counsel agree that there are only two authorities which address s.116(1)(e) as
it stood. Tien & Ors v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
[1998] FCA 1552; (1998) 89 FCR 80 (“Tien”) is a decision of Goldberg J. He
observed that the phrase ‘good order’ is not defined in the
Migration Act.
- The
factual circumstances in Tien were very different to the circumstances
here. Mr Tien had a very long stay temporary business visa. His visa was
cancelled after
an immigration officer found that Mr Tien’s travelling
companion was travelling with false documents using a false name and
Mr Tien had
documents in his possession which included documents showing his travelling
companion’s real name.
- Goldberg
said at pages 93-94:
- The
expression “good order of the Australian community” is not defined
in the Act. 1 was not referred to any judicial
consideration of this particular
expression. It must be construed in the context in which it appears, that is,
juxtaposed to the
words “the health, safety" of the Australian community.
In that context it has, in my opinion, a public order element, that
is to say it
requires there to be an element of a risk that the person's presence in
Australia might be disruptive to the proper
administration or observance of the
law in Australia or might create difficulties or public disruption in relation
to the values,
balance and equilibrium of Australian society. It involves
something in the nature of unsettling public actions or activities. For
example,
a person who came to Australia and was found to be committing in Australia
serious breaches of the law or criminal acts
or was inciting people in the
community to violence could properly be said to be a person whose presence in
Australia is a risk to
the good order of the Australian community. It should be
emphasised that it must be the presence of the visa holder “in
Australia”
which constitutes or would constitute the risk to the good
order of the Australian community.
- ...
- As I have
already observed, the expression “good order of the Australian
community” requires a consideration of issues
similar to those which arise
on a consideration of the expression “public order". That is to say one is
concerned with activities
which have an impact on public activities or which
manifest themselves in a public way.
- Goldberg
J held that the provisions in s.116(e) are mandatory for good reason given that
this provision is invoked by the Department
when it is seeking to take immediate
action to cancel a person’s visa.
- Branson
J in Newall v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [1999]
FCA 1624 (“Newell”). In this case the applicant was granted an
electronic visitor visa. He expressed concern to the Australian
High Commission
in London that he was not asked about his status and told them that he had been
convicted of a crime in the United
Kingdom and spent 3 years in prison. His visa
was cancelled pursuant to s.116(1)(e). Branson J quoted Goldberg J and agreed
with
his construction of good order.
- Branson
J found that the applicant was inviting the court to engage in a merits review.
The applicant was convicted of being an accessory
after the fact of the murder
of his parents and was still on parole. It was open to the delegate to find that
the presence of the
applicant in Australia might be a risk
- [B]ased on
the risk of an adverse reaction by certain members of the Australian society to
his presence in this country based on
the circumstances referred to above,
rather than on concern about the likely or possible conduct of the applicant in
Australia.
- The
Tribunal noted that there was no audio recording of the AMES interview and that
the AMES case officer was not available to give
evidence. The Tribunal noted
inconsistencies in the applicant’s claims about the threat at various
points and found aspects
of his evidence lacked credibility.
- The
Tribunal recorded that the applicant’s case manager was concerned about
the applicant’s deteriorating mental health.
The Tribunal observed that it
did not have any expert medical evidence about the applicant’s mental
health but that this would
go to the applicant’s moral culpability rather
than the question of risk.
- The
Tribunal accepted that applicant was feeling frustrated at the time he made the
threats and spoke calmly when he made them. The
applicant had not made threats
before. Whilst the applicant said he was joking he knew, or ought to have known
the threats were grave.
- At
[29] the Tribunal referred to Tien and Newall and found:
- [O]n the
evidence before it, the Tribunal finds that whether or not Mr [ATR15’s]
presence in Australia is a risk to the safety
of the Australian community it is
a risk to the good order of the Australian community. That is because of what
the Tribunal considers
to be, at the least, the risk of an adverse reaction by
certain members of the Australian society to his presence.
- The
Tribunal found that the grounds for cancellation existed and then considered
whether or not to exercise the discretion as to whether
or not to cancel the
visa and concluded that the applicant’s circumstances were not such that
the Tribunal should not exercise
its discretion not to cancel the
visa.
The first limb
- The
applicant argues that the Tribunal erred when interpreting good order by taking
Newell’s Case to mean that the risk of an adverse reaction to the
visa holder’s presence in Australia. The applicant argues that this is
goes
beyond what is stated in Tien and Newall.
- In
my view, reading Goldberg J’s decision and the Tribunal’s decision,
it is not a fair reading to focus on the phrase
risk of adverse reaction because
this follows on from considering the good order of the Australian community. The
Tribunal has not
misapplied or gone beyond Tien and Newall rather
it has applied the test to the facts before it. As illustrated by the different
facts in the two cases there will be different
facts to apply to the provision.
The public aspect to good order is precisely what Goldberg J applied and what
the Tribunal applied
here.
- The
applicant argues that the Tribunal erred in ignoring the surrounding
circumstances and the context in which the threats were made
and argues that
these are relevant to the assessment of risk.
- The
first respondent argues that the Tribunal did not interpret good order too
narrowly and did consider the surrounding circumstances.
It is clear from
reading the decision that the Tribunal did identify the the context in which the
threats were made and considered
the material including the email from the
applicant’s former case worker who wrote that it was out of character for
the applicant.
- At
[22] of the Tribunal’s decision when assessing good order and quoting from
the two cases the Tribunal member concluded that
the risk is about “the
risk of adverse reaction by certain members of the Australian society based to
the applicant’s presence in this country
rather than on the concern about
the applicant’s likely or possible conduct.” In my view that is
an appropriate assessment consistent with Newall’s Case.
- It
is not difficult particularly in light of recent world events and the Lindt
café enquiry that if the Australian public were
to be aware of the
threats the applicant uttered that in some quarters there would be unrest and a
risk to safety and good order
of the Australian community. It is not all
sections of the Australian community. Some may well be swayed by the
applicant’s
personal circumstances, including his refugee status, his
distress and mental health, others would not. One only has to look at
media
reports in the recent times (reasonable or not) to imagine how sections of the
public would react. It is important to note
that there is no suggestion in the
section 116(1)(e) itself (as it then was) nor in either of the Federal Court
decisions that reasonableness
factors into this consideration. It does not refer
to a reasonable member of the public.
- It
is also noteworthy that there is no qualifier to the term risk in this context
unlike in the family law context where a judicial
officer is required to assess
whether there is an unacceptable risk to a child’s welfare in
circumstances of abuse or violence
for example.
- The
Tribunal properly applied the legislation and authorities. The first ground is
not made out.
The second limb
- Turning
to the second ground, the applicant argued that the Tribunal failed to consider
the integer of the applicant’s claim
with respect to hardship if his visa
was cancelled.
- The
first respondent argues that the Tribunal is not required to take into account
any particular consideration in exercising its
discretion about whether or not
to cancel the applicant’s visa. This ignores the fact that the Department
has published its
Procedures Advice Manual PAM3 general visa cancellation
powers. The Tribunal states it considered at [31] of its decision. It is
clear
from the following paragraphs that it did have regard to those guidelines
- The
Tribunal refers to the circumstances including the purpose of the visa
holder’s travel and stay in Australia. The Tribunal
correctly identifies
the fact that the applicant came to Australia for protection and has been found
to be person to whom Australia
owes protection. It then refers to the bridging
visa and says “There is no indication that the cancellation of the
Bridging visa will of itself adversely affect the assessment of the remaining
criteria for the Protection visa.” The issue of assessing the
remainder of the applicant’s protection visa is a matter for the
Department. Those criteria
include health, security and character checks.
- The
Tribunal then goes on to consider hardship. It refers to the fact that the
applicant has already been in detention for many months
and will remain in
detention until his protection visa is finally determined. The Tribunal says
there is no material to indicate
when that might be processed. The Tribunal
accepted that the applicant is Stateless and has been found to be a person to
who Australia
owes protection. It then records that the remaining criteria is
yet to be considered. The only issue before the Tribunal was whether
or not to
affirm the delegate’s decision to cancel the bridging visa. The protection
visa application is not before it and
it cannot second guess what another forum
might do.
- The
Court must be careful not to overstep its bounds in conducting a judicial
review. It is not about the Court substituting its own
opinion or about
considering that it would have reached a different conclusion. This would be an
error on the Court’s part.
- The
real issue turns on whether or not the Tribunal failed to consider the
applicant’s specific claims with respect to his experiences
in detention.
The claim with respect to the assault is brief. It appears at CB 93 [2] of the
applicant’s statutory declaration.
It is clear that the Tribunal did have
regard to the statutory declaration because it refers to other parts of it. It
is well established
that the Tribunal is not obliged to refer to every piece of
evidence before it.[1] The issue is
whether or not the applicant’s claim about his treatment in detention, if
considered could have materially affected
the
outcome.[2]
- The
decision of Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZSRS [2014]
FCAFC 16 is also applicable here. The Tribunal was assessing hardship and
considered remaining in detention as a hardship. The applicant made
a specific
claim about his individual circumstances in detention.
- It
is not enough to refer to the fact that the applicant will remain in detention.
The section of the decisions with respect to discretion
is on 6 paragraphs.
There is no mention about the assault in detention. This is a clear omission
particularly in light of the Tribunal’s
consideration of the hardship of
detention generally. It gives the impression that the Tribunal has not given
specific consideration
to the applicant’s claims and evidence before it.
By failing to refer to this the inference is that the Tribunal overlooked
that
claim which make have affected the outcome.
- I
am satisfied that the Tribunal has committed a jurisdictional error. I must
quash the decision and remit the matter to the Tribunal.
I am very aware that
this means that a fourth Tribunal will need to consider this issue but that is
unavoidable.
- As
the applicant has been successful I will order that the first respondent pay the
applicant’s costs.
I certify that the preceding seventy
(70) paragraphs are a true copy of the reasons for judgment of Judge
Harland
Associate:
Date: 20 May
2016
The above reasons for Judgment have been amended to reflect the
following changes:
- At
[36] the word “not” has been added between the words
“did” and “discuss” in line 4.
- At
[38] the words “..’s solicitor” deleted from line
1.
[1] See WAEE v Minister for
Immigration and Citizenship (2003) 75 ALD 630 at
[46].
[2] See Minister for
Aboriginal Affairs and Anor v Peko-Wallsend Ltd and Others [1986] HCA 40; (1986) 66 ALR
299.
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