Ling Pack (otherwise Ah Sing) v Gleeson

This case concerned an appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Court of General Sessions of Victoria, which had dismissed an appeal and affirmed a conviction. The informant, James Gleeson, had charged Ling Pack (also known as Ah Sing) with being a prohibited immigrant found within the Commonwealth in contravention of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901-1910, having failed to pass the dictation test. The appellant argued that he had been domiciled in Australia prior to 1904 and had never abandoned this domicile.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the appellant had established an Australian domicile before he departed for China in 1904. This question was crucial because if he had acquired an Australian domicile, his subsequent return to Australia in 1912 might not have constituted an offence under the Act.

The High Court, per Griffith C.J., found that the evidence presented did not support the inference that the appellant had acquired an Australian domicile. The facts accepted were that the appellant, a Chinese national, arrived in Australia in 1898, lived there for approximately six years without learning English beyond a few words, and did not possess his own residence. He then returned to China in 1904 for eight years, leaving his wife behind, before returning to Australia in 1912, again without his wife. The Court held that these circumstances were insufficient to establish an abandonment of his Chinese domicile of origin and the acquisition of an Australian domicile.

Consequently, the High Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the conviction of Ling Pack as a prohibited immigrant.