Ground 2
23 As formulated in the notice of appeal, Ground 2 appears to be a reflection of Ground 1. However, as advanced in submissions, and as answered by the Minister, the appellant's contention is that the primary judge erred in concluding that reg 2.55 applied to the notice of cancellation. The appellant's submission is that, when the cancellation decision was made, he was in immigration detention. This meant that the notice of cancellation could not be given to him under reg 2.55, given the terms of reg 2.55(2):
However, this regulation does not apply in relation to:
(a) …; or
(b) a person who is in immigration detention.
Note: See regulation 5.02.
24 According to the appellant, the notice of cancellation had to be been given by the method of service required under reg 5.02, which relevantly provides:
For the purposes of the Act and these Regulations, a document to be served on a person in immigration detention may be served by giving it to the person himself or herself, or to another person authorised by him or her to receive documents on his or her behalf.
...
25 The primary judge noted that the appellant's contention turns on the definition of "immigration detention" in s 5 of the Act, which applies equally to the same expression in the Regulations - for relevant purposes, reg 2.55(2)(b). This definition includes "being held by, or on behalf of, an officer ... in a prison or remand centre of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory". The primary judge accepted that the term "officer", in that definition, included, at the relevant time, employees of State and Territory correctional services or prison departments or their equivalent. But the mere fact that a State prison can be a place of immigration detention did not mean that the appellant was "in immigration detention" in November 2018.
26 The primary judge noted that there is a distinction between immigration detention and criminal detention, which is recognised in the Regulations. She reasoned that a person is not in immigration detention if he or she is in criminal detention and that, as the appellant was in criminal detention at the relevant time, he was not in immigration detention.
27 In this connection, the primary judge accepted the Minister's submission that:
39 … a non-citizen only enters immigration detention as a result of an executive act taken pursuant to s 189 of the Migration Act. As long as the non-citizen is being detained in a prison serving a sentence, there is no reason for such action to be taken. Presumably the purpose of the extended definition of "immigration detention" in s 5 is to enable places other than detention centres established under the Act to be used when, for one reason or another, a detention centre is unavailable or inaccessible, such as where there is no room in the nearest detention centre or there has been a fire there or the only access is by air and it is too late to take a flight or the flights are fully booked.
28 Section 189(1) of the Act provides:
If an officer knows or reasonably suspects that a person in the migration zone (other than an excised offshore place) is an unlawful non-citizen, the officer must detain the person.
29 Section 5 of the Act defines "detain" to mean:
(a) take into immigration detention; or
(b) keep, or cause to be kept, in immigration detention;
and includes taking such action and using such force as are reasonably necessary to do so.
Note: This definition extends to persons covered by residence determinations (see section 197AC).
30 The primary judge noted a contention by the appellant that he was in immigration detention from the time the cancellation decision was made because that decision transformed him from a lawful to an unlawful citizen - in other words, a change of status was all that was required.
31 The primary judge rejected that contention based on Falzon v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2018] HCA 2; 262 CLR 333 in which the plurality said (at [59]):
Criminal detention cannot be "converted" into immigration detention. A person is imprisoned by order of the court which authorises his or her detention by the State following conviction for an offence against the laws of the State. A person so detained cannot be said to be detained by an officer acting under s 189 of the Migration Act.
32 Alternatively, the appellant contended that action had been taken to detain him under s 189(1) of the Act when a prison officer gave the appellant the notice of cancellation on 18 November 2018. The appellant also relied on an email sent to "Sentence Admin", the Secretary of the Parole Board, and the Department of Justice advising that the appellant's visa had been cancelled, that written notification had been sent to him by registered post, and that it was important that, on its arrival, this notification be handed to the appellant as soon as possible.
33 The primary judge rejected this contention, stating that neither event constituted taking the appellant into immigration detention, or amounted to keeping or causing him to be kept in immigration detention.
34 Relatedly, the primary judge noted that the email, on which the appellant relied, was inconsistent with his contention because it expressly referred to making arrangements to take the appellant into immigration detention following his release from criminal custody. The primary judge found that the appellant was not taken into immigration detention until 10 June 2019.
35 Quite apart from these findings, the primary judge noted that, on his own evidence, the appellant had been given the notice of cancellation by 18 November 2018. That being so, the 28-day period, in which to make representations about revocation of the cancellation decision, commenced to run from that date, assuming reg 5.02 applied.
36 In this appeal, the appellant calls in aid reg 1.09, which provides:
For the purposes of these Regulations, a person is in criminal detention if he or she is:
(a) serving a term of imprisonment (including periodic detention) following conviction for an offence; or
(b) in prison on remand;
but not if he or she is:
(c) subject to a community service order; or
(d) on parole after serving part of a term of imprisonment; or
(e) on bail awaiting trial.
37 The appellant also calls in aid the Periodic Detention of Prisoners Act 1981 (No 18) (NSW), specifically the definition of "detention period" in s 4 thereof. The significance of this legislation seems to be that, according to the appellant, it is possible for a person to be in periodic detention, and thus in criminal detention, while also being at liberty which, somehow, renders the person amenable to being in immigration detention. The appellant contends, therefore, that a person can be in both immigration detention and criminal detention at the same time.
38 The reasoning behind this submission is difficult to follow. But it need not be pursued. First, the legislation in question was repealed in 2000. Secondly, this ground of appeal is met by the fact that we do not see error in the primary judge's finding that the appellant was not taken into immigration detention until 10 June 2019. The appellant's submissions on appeal do not engage with this finding. They also do not engage with the reasons why the primary judge found that, at the time he was given the notice of cancellation, the appellant was not in immigration detention.
39 Furthermore, as the primary judge explained, and as the Minister submits, the appellant's contention that he was in immigration detention at the time he was given the notice of cancellation does not avail him because, even if reg 5.02 applied at that time, by his own admission he was served with the cancellation notice (it was given to him) on 18 November 2018.
40 The appellant submits that there is no evidence as to who gave him the notice of cancellation. He submits that the act of "an unidentified person" giving him the notice of cancellation cannot amount to "service" within the meaning of the Regulations. This submission cannot be accepted. Regulation 5.02 requires no more than the giving of the document to the person concerned or to another person authorised by him or her to receive documents on his or her behalf. Unquestionably, the appellant was given the notice of cancellation. Therefore, even on the basis that reg 5.02 applied, the appellant's representations, when made, were outside the 28-day time period stipulated by reg 2.52(2)(b).
41 For these reasons, Ground 2 is not established.