Federal Court. In determining whether it was legally unreasonable for the Tribunal not to adjourn the review, was it relevant that: the Appellants were self-represented; there was no time sensitive aspect to the Tribunal’s review, as the visa and review applications had been on foot for a long time; the Tribunal advised the Appellants only a few weeks before the hearing that it would be considering a provision not considered by the delegate? Can a request for an adjournment be implicit, depending on the circumstances?
Some of the questions to the Federal Court (FCA) were as follows:
Question 1: Is an error in the of legal unreasonableness only jurisdictional if material to the decision?
Question 2: In determining whether it was legally unreasonable for the Tribunal not to adjourn the review, was it relevant that the Appellants were self-represented?
Question 3: In determining whether it was legally unreasonable for the Tribunal not to adjourn the review, was it relevant that there was no time sensitive aspect to the Tribunal’s review and no objective basis for any urgency in making a decision in relation to the visa, as the visa application had been on foot for several years, the notice of Tribunal hearing was supplied to the Appellants some 18 months after they had lodged their application for review with the Tribunal and the hearing was listed within a few weeks thereafter?
Question 4: In determining whether it was legally unreasonable for the Tribunal not to adjourn the review, was it relevant that the Tribunal advised the Appellants only a few weeks before the hearing that the Tribunal would be assessing a legislative provision not assessed by the delegate?
Question 5: In determining whether it was legally unreasonable for the Tribunal not to adjourn the review, was it relevant that "the applicants had notified the Tribunal at the hearing of the personal difficulties that they suffered arising from injuries suffered by [the secondary review applicant] which meant that on the day of the hearing his wife, [the primary review applicant], was no doubt under some disadvantage"?
Question 6: Can a request for an adjournment be implicit, depending on the circumstances?
The FCA answered those questions as follows: