EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Attorney-General
Migration Litigation Reform Act 2005
Proclamation
The Migration Litigation Reform Act 2005 (the Act) amends the Migration Act 1958 (the Migration Act) and other legislation to improve the overall efficiency of migration litigation.
The table at subsection 2(1) of the Act provides that sections 1 to 3 and Schedule 2 to that Act commence on the day the Act receives the Royal Assent. It also provides that Schedule 1 to the Act will commence on a day to be fixed by Proclamation. If any of the provision(s) of Schedule 1 do not commence within a period of six months from the day the Act receives the Royal Assent, they will commence on the first day after the end of that period. The Act received the Royal Assent on 15 November 2005.
The purpose of the proposed Proclamation is to fix 1 December 2005 as the day on which Schedule 1 to the Act commences. Schedule 1 amends various laws to direct migration cases to the Federal Magistrates Court for more efficient handling, to ensure identical grounds of review in migration cases, to impose uniform time limits in all migration cases, to facilitate quicker handling of cases by improving court processes and to deter unmeritorious applications for judicial review in migration matters.
In order to implement the provisions in Schedule 1, the Federal Magistrates Court has to amend its Rules to provide for:
- the procedures for proceedings under the Migration Act;
- a form for an application under the Migration Act;
- a new costs schedule for migration matters; and
- matters remitted from the High Court.
The date of 1 December 2005 allows the Rules to be amended and registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments prior to the commencement of Schedule 1 to the Act.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Consultation was unnecessary for this legislative instrument as this instrument is of a machinery nature only.