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Chapter 1 - Introduction
Background
1.1
On 30 March
2004, the Senate Selection of Bills Committee referred the
provisions of the Migration Amendment (Judicial Review) Bill 2004 to the Legal
and Constitutional Legislation Committee ('the Committee') for inquiry and
report by 15 June 2004.
Reasons for inquiry
1.2
The Senate Selection of Bills Committee gave the
following reasons for referring the Bill to the
Committee:
-
to examine the constitutionality of the
provisions in the Bill;
-
to examine the provisions of the Bill relating
to the time limits on judicial review for lodging of applications to the High
Court, Federal Court and the Federal Magistrates Court;
-
to examine the effect on the jurisdiction of the
Courts of privative clause decisions;
-
to examine if the provisions discriminate
between asylum seekers and other migration applicants in relation to their
rights of appeal; and
-
to examine the mechanism for review of a
migration decision that may be unlawful but is outside the 84 day appeal
deadline.
Purpose of the Bill
1.3
The Explanatory Memorandum states that the Bill
seeks to restore the original intention of the following procedural
requirements:
-
placing time limits on judicial review
applications (sections 477 and 486A Migration
Act 1958);
-
provide the High Court, the Federal Court and
the Federal Magistrates Court with exclusive jurisdiction in relation to migration
applications (section 484 Migration Act
1958); and
-
prohibit judicial review of decisions where a
review on merits is available (section 476 Migration
Act 1958).
Conduct of this inquiry
1.4
The Committee advertised the inquiry in the Australian newspaper on 7 and 21 April 2004 and wrote to over 50
organisations and individuals inviting submissions. The Committee received 19 submissions
which are listed at Appendix 1.
1.5
A public hearing on the Bill
was held in Canberra on 12 May 2004.
Acknowledgement
1.6
The Committee thanks those organisations and
individuals who made submissions and gave evidence at the public hearing.
Note of references
1.7
References in this report are to individual submissions
as received by the Committee, not to a bound volume. References to the
Committee Hansard are to the proof Hansard. Page numbers may vary between the
proof and the official Hansard transcript.
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