The s 107 notice issue
42 With respect to the s 107 notice issue, the appellant put two alternative submissions. First, he submitted that it is open to him on the appeal to establish that the online system was not an "authorised system" within s 5 of the Act and that in those circumstances the appropriate inference of fact is that the bogus document was presented to an officer. If that was accepted, there was no disparity between the allegation in the notice under s 107 and the facts. The appellant went so far as to argue that it was open to him to establish that in fact the bogus document had not been lodged online, but had been given to the Department or sent to it by post. The appellant submitted that the issue of whether the bogus document was given or presented or provided to an officer or an authorised system was a jurisdictional fact and that a court determining a judicial review application was required to decide the fact for itself on admissible evidence. The appellant also submitted that the Federal Magistrates Court, by assuming the jurisdiction to make the declarations and injunction and, in particular, the first declaration, was required to determine the fact for itself. Secondly, the appellant submitted that even if the appellant is unable to challenge the finding that the bogus document was presented to an authorised system, nevertheless, the Federal Magistrate erred in concluding that the notice under s 107 did not engage the power in s 109 of the Act.
43 Section 103 of the Act is set out above (at [22]). Section 107 of the Act provides that the Minister may give the holder of a visa a notice under the section. It was common ground that the Minister may delegate the powers in ss 107, 108 and 109 of the Act and when we refer to the Minister in the discussion that follows that includes a reference to his or her delegate. The Minister may give a notice under s 107 if he or she considers that the holder of the visa did not comply with, inter alia, s 103 of the Act. Section 107 is in the following terms:
107 Notice of incorrect applications
(1) If the Minister considers that the holder of a visa who has been immigration cleared (whether or not because of that visa) did not comply with section 101, 102, 103, 104 or 105 or with subsection (2) in a response to a notice under this section, the Minister may give the holder a notice:
(a) giving particulars of the possible non compliance; and
(b) stating that, within a period stated in the notice as mentioned in subsection (1A), the holder may give the Minister a written response to the notice that:
(i) if the holder disputes that there was non compliance:
(A) shows that there was compliance; and
(B) in case the Minister decides under section 108 that, in spite of the statement under sub-subparagraph (A), there was non compliance - shows cause why the visa should not be cancelled; or
(ii) if the holder accepts that there was non compliance:
(A) give reasons for the non compliance; and
(B) shows cause why the visa should not be cancelled; and
(c) stating that the Minister will consider cancelling the visa:
(i) if the holder gives the Minister oral or written notice, within the period stated as mentioned in subsection (1A), that he or she will not give a written response - when that notice is given; or
(ii) if the holder gives the Minister a written response within that period - when the response is given; or
(iii) otherwise - at the end of that period; and
(d) setting out the effect of sections 108, 109, 111 and 112; and
(e) informing the holder that the holder's obligations under section 104 or 105 are not affected by the notice under this section; and
(f) requiring the holder:
(i) to tell the Minister the address at which the holder is living; and
(ii) if the holder changes that address before the Minister notifies the holder of the Minister's decision on whether there was non compliance by the holder - to tell the Minister the changed address.
(1A) The period to be stated in the notice under subsection (1) must be:
(a) in respect of the holder of a temporary visa - the period prescribed by the regulations or, if no period is prescribed, a reasonable period; or
(b) otherwise - 14 days.
(1B) Regulations prescribing a period for the purposes of paragraph (1A)(a) may prescribe different periods and state when a particular period is to apply, which, without limiting the generality of the power, may be to:
(a) visas of a stated class; or
(b) visa holders in stated circumstances; or
(c) visa holders in a stated class of people (who may be visa holders in a particular place); or
(d) visa holders in a stated class of people (who may be visa holders in a particular place) in stated circumstances.
(2) If the visa holder responds to the notice, he or she must do so without making any incorrect statement.
44 Although the Minister has a discretion whether or not to give a notice under s 107, the giving of such a notice is a condition of the power to cancel a visa under s 109. That follows from the terms of ss 108 and 109 which are as follows:
108 Decision about non-compliance
The Minister is to:
(a) consider any response given by a visa holder in the way required by paragraph 107(1)(b); and
(b) decide whether there was non-compliance by the visa holder in the way described in the notice.
(Emphasis added.)
109 Cancellation of visa if information incorrect
(1) The Minister, after:
(a) deciding under section 108 that there was non-compliance by the holder of a visa; and
(b) considering any response to the notice about the non-compliance given in a way required by paragraph 107(1)(b); and
(c) having regard to any prescribed circumstances;
may cancel the visa.
(2) If the Minister may cancel a visa under subsection (1), the Minister must do so if there exist circumstances declared by the circumstances in which a visa must be cancelled.
45 The Minister's power to cancel a visa under s 109 only arises if the Minister decides under s 108 that there has been non-compliance by the holder of the visa. By reason of s 108 the Minister's inquiry is limited to the question of whether there was non-compliance in the way described in the notice. In other words, it would be beyond the Minister's power to inquire into whether there was non-compliance in a way not described in the notice. In this way the giving of a notice under s 107 becomes a key step in the process which may lead to the cancellation of a visa under s 109 and performs the function of providing the procedural fairness identified in s 107 to the holder of the visa. If the notice under s 107 does not describe the non-compliance, or if the Minister decides that there has been non-compliance in a way not described in the notice, then the Minister has exceeded the power given in s 108 and s 109.
46 Senior counsel for the appellant argued on the appeal that it was quite clear that the bogus document had been given to an officer and not an authorised system. He referred the Court to the definition of "Internet application" in reg 1.03 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). He also referred the Court to the amendment which introduced the concept of "authorised system" being the Migration Amendment (Border Integrity) Act 2007 (Cth) and he made submissions as to what he said was the clear purpose of the amendment. That purpose was, he submitted, quite unrelated to the making of an internet application. He attached to his written reply to the respondent's written submissions what he contended was the only authorisation of an inbound automated processing system (that is, authorised system) being a system called "Smartgate". His analysis does seem to make it clear that the online system which was used by the respondent to make his application was not an authorised system. If that conclusion is correct, then the appellant submitted that, in the absence of direct evidence, the appropriate inference is that the bogus document was presented to an officer.
47 The difficulty with the appellant's argument is two-fold. First, he must show that the issue of whether the bogus document was presented to an officer or to an authorised system was a jurisdictional fact so that the Federal Magistrates Court had to decide the fact for itself. Secondly, even if he overcomes that difficulty he must show that he ought to be permitted to raise the point in this Court and call evidence if necessary. In our opinion, the appellant fails on the first point and it is not necessary to consider the second point.
48 In Saleem v Migration Review Tribunal [2004] FCA 234 ("Saleem") Allsop J decided, correctly in our respectful opinion, that the Tribunal, like the Minister, had to decide whether there had been non-compliance for the purposes of s 108(b). His Honour said (at [22]):
When the Tribunal comes to the review of the decision to cancel the visa it too must decide whether there has been non-compliance for the purposes of s 108(b). I reject the proposition that it is limited in its function to the exercise of the discretionary power in s 109. That would be an approach contrary to the notion of a full merits review provided for by the Act. Nothing in SHJB demands to the contrary.
49 The Full Court of this Court considered the question of what facts are jurisdictional facts under ss 108 and 109 of the Act in SHJB v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2003] FCAFC 330 ("SHJB"). The principal question before the Court was whether the fact of non-compliance by a visa holder in the way described in the notice was a jurisdictional fact so that a Court hearing an application for judicial review must decide the fact for itself. The Court answered that question in the negative and said that the relevant jurisdictional fact was a decision by the Minister that there was non-compliance by the holder of the visa with the requirements of s 108. The Minister or Tribunal's decision could be attacked on the basis that it was not supported by some probative material or logical grounds. The Court's reasons for reaching those conclusions were as follows (at [14]-[22]):
The first [ground of appeal] was that the question of non-compliance with s 101 was a 'precedent fact', which, on review, should be determined by the Court. The appellant submitted that the learned primary judge had erred in failing to hold that the actual existence (as opposed to the Tribunal's 'mere satisfaction') of non-compliance by him was a condition upon which the Tribunal's jurisdiction under s 109 depended. That is, that the fact of non-compliance was a 'jurisdictional fact'. The appellant contended that the primary judge should have determined for himself, on the admissible evidence before the Court, whether there had been 'non-compliance by the visa holder in the way described in the notice'.
Counsel for the appellant then took us to the authorities relating to situations in which a Court, on judicial review, was obliged to determine for itself the jurisdictional fact upon which the administrative decision-maker's jurisdiction depended.
It seems to be common ground, and we agree, that the principles in this area are well established. It is sufficient to refer to Enfield City Corporation v Development Assessment Commission (2000) 199 CLR 135.
However, in our view the appellant has wrongly identified the jurisdictional fact which gives rise to the power conferred by s 109(1). In our opinion, the relevant jurisdictional fact is to be found by a proper construction of ss 108(b) and 109(1)(a). The jurisdictional fact is a decision by the Minister that there was non-compliance by the holder of the visa with the requirements of s 108. That decision gives rise to the power to cancel the visa.
That fact (the decision that there was non-compliance with s 101) is probably "a fact" which falls outside the ordinary meaning of that term, to use the words of Gummow J in Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Eshetu (1999) 197 CLR 611 at [130]. As his Honour pointed out in the immediately following paragraphs, such a decision is reviewable under s 75(v) of the Constitution.
But in conducting such a review, the Court's function is not to decide, as the appellant submits, whether he did in fact fail to comply with s 101. In that regard, this case differs from the statutory regime in Enfield, where the relevant power (one untrammelled by the requirement of consent from the local council) simply did not exist if the proposed development was for 'special industry' - see the joint judgment at [33] to [39].
Similarly, in Timbarra Protection Coalition Inc v Ross Mining NL (1999) 46 NSWLR 55, a decision on which the appellant relied quite heavily, the jurisdictional fact was whether the relevant development was '… likely to significantly affect threatened species, populations or ecological communities, or their habitats …'. In such circumstances, s 77(3)(d1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) required the development application to be accompanied by a species impact statement. The New South Wales Court of Appeal so held, as a matter of statutory construction, noting that the decision about the existence or not of a jurisdictional fact may (as in that case) involve the exercise of judgment. But the existence of the jurisdictional fact was to be ascertained objectively; the opinion of the consent authority was not determinative: see Spigelman CJ (with whom Mason P and Meagher JA agreed) at [81] to [94].
We would distinguish the present case from Timbarra, because the statutory requirements are expressed in a basically different manner. Parliament has decided that the jurisdictional fact is not whether the appellant failed to comply with s 101, but whether the respondent's officer or the Tribunal had decided that there was such non-compliance.
The first question in this appeal is whether his Honour erred in finding that there was material before it that justified the Tribunal's conclusion. Or, to adapt the language of Gummow J in Eshetu at [145], was the satisfaction of the Tribunal based on findings or inferences of fact which were not supported by some probative material or logical grounds? In our view, the answer to both questions is no. One has only to refer to the material from the Organisation for Registration and the Directorate of Registration of the Ministry of Interior of the Government of Pakistan and compare that with some of the information given by the appellant in his application for a protection visa about the names of some of the members of his immediate family. The appellant criticised the official records from Pakistan as containing some inconsistencies. In our opinion, those criticisms go, impermissibly, to matters of weight or the merits. There was plenty of other information upon which the Tribunal relied and upon which it was, in our view, entitled to rely.
50 In our respectful opinion the reasoning of the Court in SHJB is correct and there is no reason why its conclusions should not be followed by this Court.
51 The question of whether the bogus document was given, presented or provided to an officer or to an authorised system is not a jurisdictional fact. It is part of the issue of non-compliance and in the same way as the question of whether a document is a bogus document is not a jurisdictional fact (SHJB) so also is the issue of the person or entity to whom the document was given not a jurisdictional fact.
52 The appellant submitted that even if the question of whether the bogus document was given, presented or provided to an officer or to an authorised system was not a jurisdictional fact for the purposes of an application for constitutional writs, it was a jurisdictional fact for the purposes of the jurisdiction to grant declarations and injunction and, in particular, the first declaration. Although there is force in that submission, at least as far as the first declaration is concerned, the difficulty with it is that, in our opinion, on any view of the merits the first declaration ought not to have been made. The issue before the Federal Magistrate was not whether the notice under s 107 contained a false particular or wrongly asserted a matter or thing. The issue was whether there was non-compliance by the visa holder in the way described in the notice. We reject the appellant's first submission with respect to the s 107 notice issue.
53 We turn to the second submission which is to be determined on the basis that the bogus document was in fact presented by the respondent to an authorised system and not, as stated in the notice under s 107, to an officer. The appellant submitted that the Federal Magistrate erred in concluding that this departure from the notice was fatal to the jurisdiction under s 108 to decide that there had been non-compliance with a relevant section in the Act.
54 In Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v McDade (2001) 109 FCR 137 at 146 [34] the Full Court of this Court noted that the decision for the Minister under s 108 was not whether there was non-compliance by the visa holder with, for example, s 101, but whether there was non-compliance by the visa holder in the way described in the notice. In Zhong v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship at 460 [81] Lander J said that the giving of a notice which complies with s 107 of the Act is a statutory precondition to the exercise of the Minister's or delegate's power to cancel a visa under s 109.
55 In this case there was a notice under s 107 of the Act and, on the face of it, that notice sets out the matters it was required to contain by reason of s 107. The question which this particular case raises is whether the Federal Magistrate erred in concluding that the Tribunal exceeded its jurisdiction in finding that there had been non-compliance in the way described in the notice.
56 A notice under s 107 of the Act is not a criminal charge or a pleading in a civil action. The notice must contain, among other things, particulars of possible non-compliance and then the decision-maker under s 108 must decide whether there has been non-compliance in the way described in the notice.
57 In Zhao v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 1235 the Full Court of this Court considered a notice under s 119 of the Act. That section is in different terms from s 107. Nevertheless, we think the following statements of the Court (at [25]-[26]) are of assistance in terms of the proper interpretation and application of s 107:
Section 119 requires particulars of the grounds relied upon to be included in the notice. The level of particularity is not specified. It must serve the statutory purpose. That is to say it must be sufficient, when read in conjunction with the supporting information, to fairly inform the visa holder of the basis upon which cancellation is being considered so that the visa holder is adequately equipped to provide such relevant information as may be available and to make such submissions as may be open.
…
The requirement of notification of grounds of possible cancellation is not a requirement for delivery of some form of pleading which may then be the subject of strict construction and technical criticism. The overall purpose to be served by s 119 is procedural fairness and it is that which informs the construction and application of the section.
58 The Court, testing the matter by reference to the statutory purpose, refused to find that an erroneous reference to a regulation rendered the notice ineffective for non-compliance with s 119.
59 In Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v SZIZO (2009) 238 CLR 627 ("Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v SZIZO") the High Court considered whether any departure from the provisions of ss 441G and 441A of the Act resulted in invalidity. The Court decided that that was not the intention of Parliament and that consideration had to be given to the extent and consequences of the departure. The Court said (at 640 [35] [36]):
While the legislature may be taken to have intended that compliance with the steps in ss 441G and 441A would discharge the Tribunal's obligations with respect to the giving of timely and effective notice of the hearing, it does not follow that it was the intention that any departure from those steps would result in invalidity without consideration of the extent and consequences of the departure. The respondents acknowledge that they suffered no injustice by reason of the Tribunal's omission and they do not take issue with the Full Court's characterisation of the result in the circumstances as being "rather absurd". The admitted absurdity of the outcome is against acceptance of the conclusion that the legislature intended that invalidity be the consequence of departure from any of the procedural steps leading up to the hearing. In a case in which the Tribunal fails to comply with the requirements for the giving of notice of a hearing, the factual determination of whether the applicant for review and his or her authorised recipient received timely and effective notice of the hearing does not require the court to consider how the applicant might have presented his or her case differently had the Tribunal complied with the statutory procedures. No question arises, in the case of an applicant who has received timely and effective notice of the hearing, of the loss of an opportunity to advance his or her case.
Notwithstanding the detailed prescription of the regime under Divs 4 and 7A and the use of imperative language it was an error to conclude that the provisions of ss 441G and 441A are inviolable restraints conditioning the Tribunal's jurisdiction to conduct and decide a review. They are procedural steps that are designed to ensure that an applicant for review is enabled to properly advance his or her case at the hearing; a failure to comply with them will require consideration of whether in the events that occurred the applicant was denied natural justice. There was no denial of natural justice in this case.
60 The Court in Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v SZIZO was dealing with different statutory provisions in the Act from those in issue in this case. Nevertheless, we think that a similar approach should be taken in the case of ss 107, 108 and 109 of the Act particularly as the phrase in s 107(1)(a) "particulars of the possible non-compliance" can only be given meaningful content by reference to the facts of a particular case.
61 In our opinion, it was not Parliament's intention that all departures from the statements made in a notice under s 107 deprive the decision-maker of jurisdiction under ss 108 and 109 to making findings of non-compliance by the visa holder in the way described in the notice. The phrase "in the way described in the notice" must be read in light of the purpose of the statutory scheme which is to ensure that the visa holder has notice of the alleged non-compliance and an opportunity to dispute the allegations and to respond to them. A departure which is minor and insignificant in the context of the facts of a particular case and which does not go to the substance of the allegations of non-compliance does not deprive the decision-maker of jurisdiction under ss 108 and 109. The departure in this case should be so characterised. The central issue in terms of the allegations of non-compliance was the accuracy or otherwise of the work reference letter from Dom's and adequate particulars of the allegations with respect to that issue were given in the notice under s 107. Furthermore, the notice clearly referred to the date upon which the respondent lodged his application and the address to which it was sent (see [5] above). The respondent and his advisers would not have been under any misapprehension as to the occasion upon which it was said that he had failed to comply with s 103 of the Act. Finally, even if the bogus document was given, presented or provided to an authorised system, it seems clear enough that eventually it would have come to the attention of an officer of the Department.
62 We uphold the appellant's challenge to the Federal Magistrate's conclusion with respect to the s 107 notice issue.