Ground 1: Whether the Tribunal failed to comply with ss 424A and 424AA
37 In the first ground of appeal, the appellant alleges that the Tribunal failed to comply with the requirement in ss 424A and 424AA of the Migration Act to give the appellant "clear particulars of information it considered would be part of the reasons for affirming the decision under review, to ensure the applicant understood why that information was relevant to the review and the consequences of its being relied upon, and to invite the applicant to comment upon or respond to that information". The appellant's particulars of this failure included that the Tribunal "did not issue any written invitation under section 424A".
38 Section 424A, at the relevant time, provided as follows:
Information and invitation given in writing by Tribunal
(1) Subject to subsections (2A) and (3), the Tribunal must:
(a) give to the applicant, in the way that the Tribunal considers appropriate in the circumstances, clear particulars of any information that the Tribunal considers would be the reason, or a part of the reason, for affirming the decision that is under review; and
(b) ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that the applicant understands why it is relevant to the review, and the consequences of it being relied on in affirming the decision that is under review; and
(c) invite the applicant to comment on or respond to it.
(2) The information and invitation must be given to the applicant:
(a) except where paragraph (b) applies--by one of the methods specified in section 441A; or
(b) if the applicant is in immigration detention--by a method prescribed for the purposes of giving documents to such a person.
(2A) The Tribunal is not obliged under this section to give particulars of information to an applicant, nor invite the applicant to comment on or respond to the information, if the Tribunal gives clear particulars of the information to the applicant, and invites the applicant to comment on or respond to the information, under section 424AA.
(3) This section does not apply to information:
(a) that is not specifically about the applicant or another person and is just about a class of persons of which the applicant or other person is a member; or
(b) that the applicant gave for the purpose of the application for review; or
(ba) that the applicant gave during the process that led to the decision that is under review, other than such information that was provided orally by the applicant to the Department; or
(c) that is non-disclosable information.
39 The appellant did not explain what information was not provided to her by the Tribunal. She was invited to an interview under s 425 of the Migration Act which she attended. She was provided with an interpreter fluent in the Gujarati and English languages. The hearing was conducted for more than two hours.
40 As I have explained, the information which formed part of the Tribunal's reasons for decision was the appellant's application for a visa together with her answers to questions at the Tribunal hearing.
41 The Tribunal asked the appellant a series of questions, which formed the basis for its adverse assessment of her credibility. These questions related to the basis of her claim as well as addressing concerns that the Tribunal had. For example, the Tribunal:
(1) asked the appellant many questions about her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, her family's knowledge of it and whether the police could protect her against her ex-boyfriend;
(2) asked the appellant why, with her post-graduate degree, she could not relocate elsewhere in India when she had spent a month there in 2011 living apart from her family;
(3) drew attention to the inconsistencies between her written claims and the claims she made at the hearing; and
(4) confronted the appellant with inconsistencies and gaps in her evidence.
42 In SZBYR v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2007] HCA 26; (2007) 235 ALR 609, 616 [18] (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Callinan, Heydon and Crennan JJ), the High Court, quoting from Finn and Stone JJ in VAF v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs [2004] FCAFC 123; (2004) 206 ALR 471, 477 [24], explained that "information" within s 424A(1)(a) does not include the Tribunal's disbelief of the appellant's evidence nor, in a case where the best view of the appellants' evidence failed to disclose a Convention nexus, does it
encompass the tribunal's subjective appraisals, thought processes or determinations ... nor does it extend to identified gaps, defects or lack of detail or specificity in evidence or to conclusions arrived at by the tribunal in weighing up the evidence by reference to those gaps, etc …
43 Further, the effect of s 424A(2A) is that the Tribunal will not infringe s 424A in relation to information where the Tribunal gives clear particulars of the information to the applicant, and invites the applicant to comment on or respond to the information, under section 424AA.
44 Section 424AA, at the relevant time, provided:
Information and invitation given orally by Tribunal while applicant appearing
(1) If an applicant is appearing before the Tribunal because of an invitation under section 425:
(a) the Tribunal may orally give to the applicant clear particulars of any information that the Tribunal considers would be the reason, or a part of the reason, for affirming the decision that is under review; and
(b) if the Tribunal does so--the Tribunal must:
(i) ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that the applicant understands why the information is relevant to the review, and the consequences of the information being relied on in affirming the decision that is under review; and
(ii) orally invite the applicant to comment on or respond to the information; and
(iii) advise the applicant that he or she may seek additional time to comment on or respond to the information; and
(iv) if the applicant seeks additional time to comment on or respond to the information--adjourn the review, if the Tribunal considers that the applicant reasonably needs additional time to comment on or respond to the information.
45 Apart from matters such as the subjective thought processes described in SZBYR, the numerous questions which the Tribunal asked of the appellant were matters which satisfied s 424AA. The appellant was given the opportunity of responding to those questions. The Tribunal also offered the appellant an adjournment, which she declined.
46 The first ground of appeal is dismissed.