The Daughter's Appeal
16 When the appellant applied for a protection visa in 2012, she claimed to be a stateless Faili Kurd with no other nationality. The protection visa was granted. When reviewing the delegate's decision to cancel the appellant's visa, however, the Tribunal was "satisfied that the appellant is an Iranian national, contradicting her claims for protection that she is a stateless Faili Kurd" and found that the appellant "provided incorrect answers and information when seeking protection by claiming that she was stateless and that she feared harm of returning to both Iran and Iraq": at [39]. As a consequence, the Tribunal found that there was non-compliance with s 101(b) of the Act by the appellant in the way described in the s 107 notice and at [80] the Tribunal affirmed the decision to cancel the appellant's Subclass 866 (Protection) Visa under s 109(1) of the Act.
17 Ground One of the notice of appeal is formulated as follows:
Ground 1: The non-disclosure of information under section 438 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth)
(a) The primary judge erred at [32] of the judgment by finding "there was no breach of s 425A of the Act in circumstances where the credible, relevant and significant information was sufficiently disclosed in the course of the hearing for the applicant to respond to the same".
(b) To the contrary, the certificate issued under section 438(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) on 21 September 2016, with regard to folios 1-9; 13-14; 18-19; 28-32; 58; 79-80; 100-107 of the applicant's file BCC2014/564704, was invalid and was therefore not a process according to law. As a consequence, the non-disclosure of certain information under section 438(1)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) constituted a denial of procedural fairness pursuant to section 424A, 424AA or 425 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).
18 The certificate the subject of this ground of appeal, was issued pursuant to s 438(2)(a) of the Act on 21 September 2016. During the course of the Tribunal hearing, the appellant was advised of the s 438 non-disclosure "certificates" placed on three departmental files, and advised that the Tribunal did not consider the certificates to be valid. It is worth setting out [38] in full:
The Tribunal advised the applicant that there are non-disclosure certificates pursuant to s 438(1)(a) placed on three Departmental files before the Tribunal. The Tribunal indicated to the applicant that the Tribunal has carefully considered the certificates but does not consider them to be valid. In accordance with s 424AA, the Tribunal discussed with the applicant information contained in the Departmental file indicating the her brother's real name is [redacted] who has made an attempt to change his name and confirmed that he was in fact an Iranian citizen and not stateless as claimed. When invited to comment on or respond to that information and whether she required more time, the applicant stated that she only knows that they are Faili Kurds and that she is only known by that name The Tribunal is not persuaded by her explanations. The Tribunal is satisfied that the information related to the applicant's brother indicates that his real name is [redacted] who is an Iranian national and consequently she is an Iranian national as well, contrary to the claim of being stateless.
19 The appellant contends that because the certificates were invalid, the failure to disclose the information the subject of the certificates to the appellant in advance of the hearing, caused a denial of procedural fairness, and constituted jurisdictional error. It is said that the primary judge erred in failing to find this. At the resumed hearing, this ground was identified with greater precision and it was submitted that there was a denial of procedural fairness by reason of the appellant: (a) being denied access to the documents themselves; (b) not having sufficient time to respond to the information in those documents; (c) being "taken by surprise" by the information; (d) not being invited to provide post-hearing submissions; and (e) being denied an opportunity to present evidence and arguments as to this material. The appellant contends that due to the centrality of the documents which were the subject of the certificates, the alleged failure to afford procedural fairness amounts to jurisdictional error. Further, submissions were made to the effect that it is unclear whether the Tribunal considered s 438 at all. Given the Tribunal's explicit mention of s 438, and its decision that the certificates were invalid, this last argument must be rejected immediately.
20 The Minister submits that there was no denial of procedural fairness, and as a result, no jurisdictional error. The High Court recently considered the requirements of procedural fairness in relation to s 438 certificates in Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZMTA [2019] HCA 3; (2019) 93 ALJR 252. A majority of the High Court found that the requirement of procedural fairness imposes a disclosure obligation, by which the Tribunal must disclose the existence of the certificates to the applicant. A failure to do so would constitute a breach of procedural fairness, and could (but will not necessarily) constitute jurisdictional error. During the course of the daughter's Tribunal hearing, this disclosure was made. Whether a certificate is valid will depend upon the fulfilment of either of the preconditions set out in sub-s 438(1)(a) or (b). The Tribunal found that neither of these preconditions were met, and the certificates were invalid. Importantly, the majority provided guidance on when an incorrect notification of a s 438 certificate could result in jurisdictional error. This is only where the incorrect notification is "material", in the sense that it operates to deprive the applicant of the possibility of a successful outcome, by, for example, denying the applicant "an opportunity to give evidence or make arguments to the Tribunal and thereby deprive the applicant of the possibility of a successful outcome": at [2]-[3].
21 The primary judge examined the documents the subject of the certificate, and noted that the matters as to the brother's Iranian passport and assertion of being Iranian were both put to the appellant, upon disclosing the existence of the invalid certificate. Aware of its duty to afford procedural fairness, the Tribunal's reasons outlined this process, noting it had been carried out "in accordance with s 424AA": at [24]. The Tribunal then invited the appellant to comment on or respond to that information (which she appears to have done), and asked whether the appellant required more time to consider the information. The appellants did not provide any evidence to suggest that the Tribunal's account of what occurred during the hearing did not in fact occur. The respondents contend that no practical injustice can be said to have occurred given that the material was put to the appellant, and the appellant was afforded the opportunity to comment upon it.
22 The submissions of the respondents should be accepted.