Case Law Updates

Federal Court (Full Court). As good character was not required when the Appellant was granted citizenship as a minor, should the Court "distinguish Jones on the basis that the power to revoke his citizenship based on the commission of a serious offence before he became an Australian citizen is not reasonably capable of being seen as necessary to protect the integrity of the naturalisation process, and is therefore properly characterised as punitive in nature"?

Federal Court (Full Court). Is the question whether the applicant has a reasonable explanation for refusing or failing to comply with a request made under s 91W of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) a matter for the Minister to determine? Is s 91W(3) otiose? Does the phrase “reasonable explanation” in s 91W(2) connote not only that the explanation is rational, but also that the explanation is credible?

Federal Court. Was the Tribunal allowed to 'net off’ or offset against one another the various factors that it took into account when considering under cl 14.5 of Direction 79 the extent of impediments that the Applicant may face if removed from Australia?

Federal Court (Full Court). Section 116(1)(e) called for the consideration of future possibilities which proceeded by drawing inferences from known facts and "reasonable conjecture within the parameters set by the historical facts". To these considerations should the following ones be added as legitimate bases for the assessment process: "common sense, a reasonable appreciation of human experience, and personal knowledge or specialised knowledge of the Minister or his or her Department"?

High Court. Can it be said that "each aspect of non-compliance with s 499(2A) [of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth)] was a particular of the one error – a breach by a statutory decision-maker of a condition governing the making of a decision, namely statutory non‑compliance with s 499(2A) of the Migration Act in failing to comply with Direction 90"?

High Court. In hearing an interlocutory appeal concerning the trial judge's refusal to exclude evidence under s 137 of the Evidence Act 2008 (Vic), was the Court of Appeal required to apply the principles in House v The King applicable to the review of discretionary decisions or the "correctness" standard? 

Federal Court: Could it be said that, once a visa application form is first drafted on a particular date, it cannot "thereafter be altered and that its form [is] forever fixed as at that date"? If, while a non-citizen is in the migration zone, the Minister considered an invalid protection visa application to be valid and refused to grant the visa, is the non-citizen barred under s 48A from making further protection visa applications while in the migration zone? Does the s 48A bar apply to non-citizens who are making a new protection visa application as secondary applicants?

Federal Court. If a conviction and sentence was sufficient to engage the Tribunal's jurisdiction for the purposes of s 501CA(4)(a)(i) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and other convictions and sentences were not needed to engage that jurisdiction, could the Tribunal go behind those other convictions and sentences insofar as they had a bearing on s 501CA(4)(a)(ii)?

Federal Court. Gleeson CJ and Gummow J held in Jia Legeng that an allegation of actual bias must be "distinctly made and clearly proved". Does the same principle apply to an allegation of apprehended bias? Is the IAA required to "give notice of its receipt of a reference of a fast track reviewable decision or state that it would review the decision within a certain period of time"? Is the IAA authorised to make a decision at any time after a decision has been referred to it?

Federal Court. Due to s 500(6L), AAT had 84 days to decide under s 501CA(4) whether to revoke the mandatory cancellation of Applicant's visa. At the time of AAT's decision, Applicant still had about 6 years of imprisonment to serve. Could AAT make a legally reasonable decision about the risk the Applicant would present to the community upon release 6 years in advance? Did AAT have "power to remit the application with a direction, or recommendation, that a decision concerning the application for revocation of the cancellation of the Applicant’s visa be deferred until closer to the time of his release from imprisonment"?