Case Law Updates

Federal Court. Was a delay of almost 4 years in deciding a protection visa application very lengthy? Is it reasonable for the Minister to consider s 501A for some period? Even though the Applicant's case was about the delay after the Tribunal remitted the matter to the Department, should this delay be considered in light of a previous delay? Is an absence of resources a justification for delay? Could the Minister further delay making a decision on the basis of a pending criminal trial?

Federal Court. Non-citizen won a judicial review application at FCCA and was awarded legal costs. As non-citizen was represented on a pro-bono basis (no win no fee), those costs would effectively be paid to his lawyers. However, Minister appealed FCCA's decision to FCA and applied for a stay order relating to that costs order. Should the court infer, based on the fact that the non-citizen was represented on a pro-bono basis and some other factors, that he would not have the money to pay the Minister's legal costs if the Minister is ultimately successful on appeal, in the absence of direct evidence regarding the non-citizen's financial position? If so, should that inference justify the grant of a stay order?

Federal Court (Full Court). Was the standard of protection in s 36(2B)(b) "satisfied by a conclusion that the State authority in question operates an effective legal system for the detection, prosecution and punishment of acts constituting serious harm", regardless of the circumstances of the individual non-citizen? The Applicant sent the FCCA a time extension application on 2 July 2019, but was only accepted for filing by the Registry on 1 August 2019? Was the application nevertheless deemed to have been filed on 2 July 2019?

Federal Court. On 10 June 2020, Flick J held that BAL19 was not plainly wrong and declared that the Minister's delay in deciding the Applicant's protection visa application was unreasonable. His Honour held on that date that it was unnecessary to issue mandamus ordering the Minister to make a decision within a deadline his Honour expected that the Minister would abide by the declaration and make a decision without delay. However, the Minister wrote to the Applicant as follows after Flick J's decision: "As the Minister has now appealed the judgment of Justice Flick, no decision will be made on your client’s visa application pending the outcome of the appeal. The Minister’s position is that s 501A is an available power in relation to your client’s visa application and that Justice Flick was in error in finding that the delay in making such a decision was unreasonable and that s 501A was not an available power in the circumstances of this matter. Any decision made prior to the resolution of the appeal as to whether BAL19 was wrongly decided would render the appeal moot". Can Ministers of the Crown be imprisoned for contempt of court?

Federal Court (Full Court). Was the Appellant denied procedural fairness in that "the Minister or the Minister’s delegate decided to exercise the cancellation power in s 501(3A) rather than 501(2) [of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth)] when the latter requires the person affected to be given an opportunity to be heard before the power is exercised whereas the former does not"?

Federal Court. Does a Class BF Transitional (Permanent) Visa satisfy the definition of a “protection visa” in s 48A(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth)? Was BAL19, which held that s 501(1) did not apply to protection visas, wrongly decided?

Federal Court. In the context of s 501CA(4), was the AAT bound by the sentencing remarks of the District Court? Does the decision of the Full Court in WKMZ remain authoritative despite the High Court decision in AJL20?

Federal Court. Was the Tribunal required to advise the applicant of his entitlement to seek a short adjournment so that he could provide statements from one of more of his siblings in Australia?

Federal Court. Does the phrase 'family violence' in Direction 99 have different meanings depending on the context in which it appears? Was the applicant's conduct relevant to paras 8.1.1(1)(a) and 8.5 of Direction 99 only capable of weighing against him?

According to the OMARA, following a complaint, it sent a notice under s 309 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) to the practitioner, who asked for an extension of time to respond to the notice until the lifting of the covid-19 pandemic restrictions. Were those restrictions sufficient to justify a time extension?