Park & Ors v Minister of State for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs

The parties in this matter were the appellants, Park and others, and the respondent, the Minister of State for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs. The dispute concerned the validity of deportation orders made by the Minister's delegate against the appellants. The case was heard in the High Court of Australia, on appeal from the Federal Court.

The High Court was required to determine whether the deportation orders made against the appellants were valid. This involved considering the effect of the appellants' illegal entry into Australia and the subsequent procedures followed by the Minister's delegate, particularly in relation to the appellants' arrest and detention under the Migration Act.

The Federal Court, at first instance, had set aside the deportation orders as void ab initio. This decision was upheld by a majority of the Full Federal Court, with two judges finding the orders invalid and one judge dissenting. The High Court was therefore considering the correctness of these Federal Court decisions. The reasoning of the majority in the Federal Court, which the appellants adopted, focused on the interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Migration Act concerning the arrest, detention, and the process for making deportation orders against prohibited non-citizens.