Federal Court. Does family violence include belittling, intimidating, frightening, or similar conduct directed to the person claiming to be the victim of domestic violence? Can it be said that, instead of being obliged to accept the evidence that was before her, the independent expert was required to make her own, independent assessment as to whether or not the appellant was a victim of relevant family violence?
Regulation 1.21 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) provided:
1.21 Interpretation
In this Division:
…
relevant family violence means conduct, whether actual or threatened, towards:
(a) the alleged victim…
…
that causes the alleged victim to reasonably fear for, or to be reasonably apprehensive about, his or her own wellbeing or safety.
… [and]
violence includes a threat of violence.
Some of the questions to the Federal Court (FCA) were as follows:
Question 1: Does family violence include belittling, intimidating, frightening, or similar conduct directed to the person claiming to be the victim of domestic violence?
Question 2: Can it be said that, instead of being obliged to accept the evidence that was before her, the independent expert was required to make her own, independent assessment as to whether or not the appellant was a victim of relevant family violence?
Question 3: Was it necessary for the independent expert specifically to refer to every element within every piece of evidence, and every individual statement made by the appellant in submissions?
The FCA answered those questions as follows:
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