Federal Court: 'What must be remembered by all who work in the Department ... is the seriousness (for them personally) of the possible contempt of the Court by removal from Australia of an applicant in circumstances where ...'
Summary and discussion
To avoid doubt, the Federal Court (FCA) said that it was not 'prepared to conclude ... that any of the departmental officers [involved in this case] acted inappropriately so as to raise a question of contempt'. Nor is the writer expressing an opinion on the acts of any of those involved in this case. However, Allsop CJ did make some stern remarks about the possibility of contempt of court in general in the context of removal from Australia, such as the following at [44]:
... What must be remembered by all who work in the Department, however, is the seriousness (for them personally) of the possible contempt of the Court by removal from Australia of an applicant in circumstances where ...