"Framing an exhaustive definition of persecution for the purpose of the Convention is probably impossible. Ordinarily, however, given the rationale of the Convention, persecution for that purpose is:
· unjustifiable and discriminatory conduct directed at an individual or group for a Convention reason
· which constitutes an interference with the basic human rights or dignity of that person or the persons in the group
· which the country of nationality authorises or does not stop, and
· which is so oppressive or likely to be repeated or maintained that the person threatened cannot be expected to tolerate it, so that flight from, or refusal to return to, that country is the understandable choice of the individual concerned."
22 As I have noted, the Tribunal appears to have been satisfied that the applicant had experienced unjustified and discriminatory conduct for reasons of his political beliefs by the employment discrimination he complained of. However, in my view, it has also found on the material which was then before it that that conduct, even though it was likely to be maintained, was not so oppressive that the applicant could not be expected to tolerate it, or to tolerate it no longer, or to tolerate it if he were to return to China. Given the nature of the evidence before the Tribunal, including the fact that, apparently, the applicant had tolerated that level of oppression for a number of years, perhaps as early as from the late 1980s, and the absence of any evidence that the discriminatory conduct had significantly worsened in the period preceding the applicant's departure for Australia, I do not think it is shown that the Tribunal erred in law in making the finding a fact that the discriminatory conduct directed at the applicant by reason of his political beliefs did not amount to persecution.
23 The second claim involved the question whether the applicant has a well-founded fear that he will suffer detriment sufficient to amount to persecution in the future if he were to return to China by reason of his continued expression of his political beliefs, or by the imputation to him of political beliefs, involving the role or imputed role of organising demonstrations or rallies of the kind which took place in January-March 1997. The Tribunal was not satisfied that he would. In this instance, it appears to have encapsulated both the first claim and the second claim in the description "pro-democracy activities" in its brief reasons. It has not separately dealt with his role, or his imputed role, in the rallies and demonstrations in the period January to March 1997.
24 The second claim of the applicant was one which, he contended, had not been decided by the Tribunal at all, and alternatively if it had been decided by the Tribunal the Tribunal had failed to comply with s 430(1)(c) of the Act by setting out its findings on material questions of fact. Such a failure, if established, amounts to a failure to comply with a procedure required by the Act to be complied within the making of the decision: s 476(1)(a): Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Singh (2000) 98 FCR 469 ("Singh").
25 It is clear that the Tribunal found that the applicant was not a person of adverse interest to the authorities at the time he left China. That is because the country information indicated that, were he a person of character, he would not have been permitted to leave China in the circumstances and in the manner in which he did so. As appears in the passage quoted with my emphasis in par 13 above, the Tribunal ascribed to the applicant the claim that he was in fact a person of adverse interest to the "PSB" (presumably Public Security Bureau) or the authorities at the time he left China. The Tribunal's recital of the applicant's claim records that he did not claim that he was a person of adverse interest to the authorities (other than by his employment detriments) at the time he left China. He did not claim to be a person whom the authorities wished to investigate further in relation to the protest marches, particularly that of March 1997. The Tribunal at that point in its reasons correctly identified his fear as a fear that, by their investigations, he may be identified as such a person and would then be arrested and mistreated for reasons of his political beliefs.
26 In my judgment, that claim has not been determined by the Tribunal. The fact that the applicant was able to leave China lawfully, and in the manner he did, is consistent with him fearing identification as a ring leader, or fearing being imputed with the political belief or activity as a ring leader, of the March 1997 demonstration and fearing being persecuted by reason of that political belief, and yet not having been so identified at the time he left China. The tenor of the substantive, but brief, reasons of the Tribunal has no focus on that claim. Those reasons are set out in par 14 above. The Tribunal has first addressed the harm of which the applicant complains, which must refer to the detriments in his employment. It did not think that those detriments amounted to persecution, or would do so in the future. It then referred to the applicant's support of the pro-democracy movement, but as appears its conclusion about the significance of that support is reached by reference to his ability to have left China unimpeded in 1997 and by the attitude of the authorities to those involved in the 1989 pro-democracy activities. It does not refer to the more recent country information referred to in par 12 above, or to its potential significance to the applicant's claim that he fears being imputed with the role as an organiser of the March 1997 demonstration when the railway line was blocked. Nor does the next paragraph indicate that the Tribunal had any such focus; again it refers to what the applicant has experienced. The concluding sentence, although general, appears to be a step in reasoning flowing from that reference to what the applicant has experienced.
27 There is, in my view, therefore an apparent misstatement of the nature of the applicant's second claim, and no reasoning of the Tribunal directed to it. It is only the general conclusions to the effect that the Tribunal is not satisfied that there is a real chance that the applicant will suffer persecution should he return to China which could encompass consideration of that claim.
28 Having regard to the applicant's claim, it was necessary for the Tribunal to consider whether he had the fear at the time he left China, and at the time of the hearing, that he would be arrested and tortured for his imputed political beliefs and activities in relation in particular to the March 1997 demonstration, and whether that fear was and is well-founded. In reaching its findings on those questions, the Tribunal may well consider the elapse of time between March 1997 and June 1997 when he procured his passport and July 1997 (he arrived in Australia on 2 August 1997) when he left China. It might also have regard to his ability to have left China as and when he did, and to the delay in the applicant applying for a protection visa after he arrived in Australia. On those matters, it did not have the benefit of oral evidence. As indicated in the cases referred to above, the existence of a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason is a complex question as to the nature of the conduct which might be visited upon the applicant and the reasons why that might occur. It is apparent from the applicant's own evidence that the consequences to the community at large by the blockade of the railway line in March 1997 were not insignificant. One question which might arise is whether any action taken against the ringleaders (or perceived ringleaders) of that blockade was because of their political beliefs or to enforce some law of the State unrelated to any Convention reason.
29 However, for the reasons given, in my judgment the Tribunal did not really address that claim as it proceeded on the basis that he claimed that by July 1997 he was already wanted by the authorities. As those questions were raised by the applicant, and not addressed by the Tribunal, in my view the Tribunal has erred in law: see Kahn v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1987) 14 ALD 291 at 292 per Gummow J; Hindi v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1988) 20 FCR 1 at 12-15 per Sheppard J; Broussard v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1989) 21 FCR 472 at 483 per Gummow J; Surinakova v Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs (1991) 33 FCR 87 at 96 per Hill J; Mocan v Refugee Review Tribunal (1996) 42 ALD 241 at 245 per Merkel J; and Anthonypillai v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 1368 at [17] per Merkel J.
30 If, contrary to my conclusion, the Tribunal did determine the applicant's second claim as he expressed it, in my view the Tribunal failed to comply with s 430(1)(c) and (d) of the Act. Consequently, I consider that the decision should be reviewed also under s 476(1)(a) of the Act. In Singh, at 482 [54-55], the majority (Black CJ, Sundberg, Katz and Hely JJ) said: