SZGCH v MIMA & Anor

[2007] HCATrans 37

[2007] HCATrans 037

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Office of the Registry
  Sydney  No S251 of 2006

B e t w e e n -

SZGCH

Applicant

and

MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

First Respondent

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

Second Respondent

Application for special leave to appeal

Publication of reasons and pronouncement of orders

GUMMOW J
HEYDON J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT CANBERRA ON THURSDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2007, AT 9.28 AM

Copyright in the High Court of Australia

GUMMOW J:   The applicant is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China who claims to fear persecution as a practitioner of Falun Gong. The Refugee Review Tribunal affirmed the decision of a delegate of the respondent to refuse the applicant’s application for a protection visa, following a hearing conducted in the applicant’s absence pursuant to s 426A of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). The Tribunal was not satisfied that the applicant was involved in Falun Gong, or had a genuine fear of persecution on that account.

An application for judicial review by the Federal Magistrates Court was dismissed summarily, on the motion of the respondent, pursuant to Pt 13 rr 13.03(2)(b) and 13.10 of the Federal Magistrates Court Rules on the basis that the applicant had no reasonable prospects of success and had failed to comply with various procedural orders made by the Registrar. Raphael FM also noted that, even were it true that the applicant did not attend the Tribunal because he could not read the letter of invitation, this would not mean that the Tribunal fell into jurisdictional error in proceeding in his absence. A subsequent application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court was dismissed by Besanko J on the ground that the applicant had not shown that the interlocutory decision of Raphael FM was attended by sufficient doubt to set it aside.

The applicant’s written case seeks to re-agitate the findings on the merits made by the Tribunal.  It does not address the threshold issue of the summary dismissal of his application for judicial review.  There are no prospects of success on any appeal to this Court.  Special leave is refused.

Pursuant to r 41.10.5 we direct the Registrar to draw up, sign and seal an order dismissing the application for special leave.  I publish the disposition signed by Heydon J and myself.

AT 9.30 AM THE MATTER WAS CONCLUDED