SZLEM & Anor v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

[2008] HCASL 573

SZLEM & ANOR
v
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP & ANOR
[2008] HCASL 573
S370/2008

1. The applicants are citizens of India. They are married. A delegate of the first respondent refused their applications for protection visas. That decision was upheld by the Refugee Review Tribunal. The first applicant was invited by the Tribunal to attend a Tribunal hearing, but did not do so. He was also sent a letter pursuant to s 424A of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ("the Act") offering him an opportunity to comment on adverse information. He did not comment. The first applicant claimed to be a Hindu fearing persecution from Muslims. The Tribunal was not satisfied of the detail of many of the first applicant's claims because they lacked detail.

2. The Federal Magistrates Court (Orchiston FM) dismissed an application for judicial review.

3. The Federal Court of Australia (Sundberg J) dismissed an appeal. The ground of appeal advanced to Sundberg J was that "certain adverse information" had been used by the Tribunal to affirm the delegate's decision, and the Tribunal had not disclosed it in accordance with s 424A(1) of the Act. Sundberg J reasoned that the Tribunal had not referred to any adverse information, that the applicants had not identified the "certain adverse information", and that there was no information that could have existed which would have caused a breach of s 424A.

4. The papers filed in support of the applicants' application for special leave to appeal to this Court make some generalised claims of jurisdictional error.  The papers do not demonstrate that any of these claims would have any prospects of grounding a successful appeal were special leave to be granted.

5. The application is dismissed.

6. Pursuant to r 41.10.5 we direct the Registrar to draw up, sign and seal an order dismissing the application.

   M.D. Kirby  J.D Heydon
   2 December 2008