WAAU v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2002] FCAFC 67

WAAU v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2002] FCA 295

NOTE: CHANGES TO THE MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION (MNC)

The Federal Court adopted a new medium neutral citation (FCAFC) for Full Court judgments effective from 1 January 2002.  Single Judge judgments will not be affected and will retain the FCA medium neutral citation.

The transitional arrangements are as follows:

• All Full Court judgments delivered prior to 1 January 2002 will retain the FCA medium neutral citation.
• All Full Court judgments delivered between 1 January 2002 to 30 April 2002 have been assigned parallel medium neutral citations in both the FCA and FCAFC series. 
• All Full Court judgments delivered from 1 May 2002 will contain the FCAFC medium neutral citation only.

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

WAAU v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs

[2002] FCA 295

MIGRATION - appeal - no error in primary judge's reasons

Migration Act 1958 (Cth)

WAAU V MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

W488 OF 2001

BLACK CJ, WILCOX & MOORE JJ

7 MARCH 2002

PERTH

ON APPEAL FROM A JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1.      The appeal be dismissed

2.      The appellant pay the respondent's costs of the appeal

Note:    Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

ON APPEAL FROM A JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

BLACK CJ:  

1                     All the judges have read the papers in this case and heard what the appellant has said, through an interpreter. For myself I am unable to find any error in what French J has said in his reasons for judgment. In a case like this, particularly where a person is not represented by a lawyer, the Court looks again at the decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal.  We read it with care.  Then we read the decision of the judge to whom you appealed, French J.  Then we read any written material that you have given us, which happened in this case.  Then we listen to you in court here today.

2                     After that we apply to your case the law of Australia, as we know it to be.  Now, the way in which the law works in Australia in refugee cases is that the decisions about what happened, the facts of the matter, are made by the Refugee Review Tribunal.  That is the fundamental point.  The decisions about the facts are not made by a judge at all.  The Tribunal makes the decision about what the facts are.  The role of the Court is to see whether there is any legal mistake in the application of the law to what the Tribunal has done.

3                     French J, the judge from whom you are appealing, looked at the Tribunal's reasons, knowing that you were unhappy with them, to see if there was any legal mistake in what the Tribunal had done.  Now, having read all the papers myself I am compelled to the conclusion that French J was right in concluding there was no legal mistake in what the Tribunal had done.  For those reasons the appeal should be dismissed.

Associate:

Dated:              20 March 2002

ON APPEAL FROM A JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

WILCOX J:  

4                     I agree with the Chief Justice.  The only point that we are empowered to consider is whether there has been an error by the Tribunal in the law.  I see no error in the law, whatever view the appellant may have about the findings of fact. For that reason the appeal must be dismissed.

Associate:

Dated:              20 March 2002

ON APPEAL FROM A JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

MOORE J:

5                     I agree with the Chief Justice and Wilcox J.

Associate:

Dated:              20 March 2002