Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Customs Service v Karam

The Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Customs Service (the appellant) appealed to the Full Federal Court against orders made by McCallum J in favour of Mr Karam (the respondent). The dispute concerned the interpretation of the terms "owner" and "import" within the context of s 234(1)(a) of the *Customs Act 1901* (Cth).

The primary legal issues before the Full Federal Court were whether the court below had correctly interpreted the definitions of "owner" and "import" as they applied to the goods in question, and consequently, whether the respondent had been correctly convicted under s 234(1)(a) of the *Customs Act*.

The Full Federal Court, comprising Allsop P, Basten JA, and McClellan CJ at CL, allowed the appeal. Their Honours reasoned that the court below had erred in its construction of the relevant statutory provisions. The Court found that the respondent's actions constituted an "importation" and that he could be considered the "owner" of the goods for the purposes of the Act. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, the orders of the court below were set aside, and the matter was remitted to McCallum J for redetermination of the conviction and penalty. The respondent was ordered to pay the appellant's costs of the appeal.