Title: Notice of invitation to appear: the statutory notice period in the Migration Review Tribunal and the Refugee Review Tribunal in Australia

Authors: Megumi Ogawa

Addresses: CPCC, Swallow Place, Sinnamon Park, QLD 4073, Australia

Abstract: Applicants with the decisions from the Migration Review Tribunal and the Refugee Review Tribunal often appeal those decisions of the Tribunal on the ground that the Tribunal, when it rescheduled a hearing, failed to give notice of the hearing to the applicant in compliance with the prescribed period of notice. Since the Full Court ruling in the matter of Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs v SZFML (2006) 154 FCR 572, the courts have continued to dismiss appeals on this ground. This article challenges the authorities. It first sets out the relevant provisions of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and the precise question at issue. It then analyses the leading case, SZFML, and elucidates its deficiencies. Finally, the article embarks upon the interpretation of the legislation to establish the departure of SZFML from the words of the legislation.

Keywords: refugees; migrants; immigrants; Australia; Migration Review Tribunal; Refugee Review Tribunal; administrative law; statutory interpretation; statutory notice period; invitation to appear; tribunal hearing notification; tribunal rescheduling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2013.054746

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2013 Vol.3 No.3, pp.287 - 297

Published online: 29 Nov 2013 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article