The judgment of the Federal Magistrate
7 Emmett FM summarised the claims as set out in the Tribunal decision and also the detail of the claims set out in written submissions furnished by the applicants' solicitor to the Delegate as well as the matters set out in the application for a protection visa (at [4] to [11]). In the written submissions before the Delegate, the claim was that the male applicant's 'fundamental civil and political rights' were breached by reason of race, in that the government in Fiji 'preferred the lawful [sic] interests and the illegal conduct of the traditional land holders'.
8 In the application for a protection visa, the loss of land was described and persecution on account of race was specified. There was also reference to the male applicant's active support and membership of the Labour Party. This was related to his being 'victimised by the native land owners for the reclaimanation [sic] of land'.
9 The applicants were represented by counsel before her Honour. Counsel relied on four grounds in the amended application for review:
· The Tribunal did not consider relevant facts: The applicants complained that the Tribunal failed to consider their prospects of successfully obtaining compensation for the termination of their lease. That alleged failure was rejected by her Honour, as no such claim had been made to the Tribunal (at [22]). The applicants had indicated that they had not made such a claim for compensation as they had left Fiji.
· Denial of natural justice and procedural fairness: The applicants alleged that the questions put to them by the Tribunal did not assist them in pursuing their claim. Her Honour rejected the submission that the Tribunal had an obligation to assist the applicants by the questions it asked ([26]).
· Misapplication of the "real chance" test: Her Honour examined the Tribunal's reasons and observed that, '[h]aving found no serious harm and no Convention nexus it is not surprising that the Tribunal concluded [that there was no real chance of persecution in the reasonably foreseeable future for Convention related reasons]' (at [39]). That ground was rejected.
· Failure by the Tribunal to consider political activities: Her Honour found that, while a claim of persecution on the basis of the male applicant's political beliefs was raised in the application for a protection visa, the solicitor's written submissions to the Department and to the Tribunal and the claims made orally to the Tribunal, were based on race and not on political opinion or imputed political opinion (at [43] and [51] to [53]). Her Honour considered the transcript of the Tribunal hearing, which was in evidence before her and the concessions made by the applicants' legal representative (at [48] to [50] and [55]). She also noted that no documents or submissions were provided to the Tribunal seeking in any way to address the bare claim, in the protection visa, of persecution by reason of political or imputed political opinion (at [55]). Having regard to the fact that the applicants were legally represented before the Tribunal and that no such claim was made before the Tribunal, the Tribunal was not required to consider the claim (at [57]).
10 Federal Magistrate Emmett concluded that the Tribunal was not obliged to deal with claims that are not articulated and which do not clearly arise on the material before it. No claim was made to the Tribunal for persecution on the grounds of political opinion. Her Honour observed, with reference to NABE v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (No 2) (2004) 144 FCR 1 at [58], that an unarticulated claim must be raised squarely on the material available to the Tribunal before it has a duty to consider it. Her Honour also relied on Appellant S395/2002 v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (2003) 216 CLR 473 at [1] where Gleeson CJ stated that, although the Tribunal proceedings are not adversarial, the decision of the Tribunal must be considered in the light of the basis upon which the application was made.
11 As I have noted, her Honour was referred to and cited in her reasons the transcript of the hearing before the Tribunal. There, the applicants' solicitor stated that the 'the core of [the male applicant's] claim relates to issues, humanitarian issues which are beyond the scope of this Tribunal'. It is apparent from a reading of the transcript that the solicitor was concerned to preserve the applicants' position pending an application under s 417 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ('the Act') and, for that reason, conceded that the applicants could not establish an objective basis for a fear of persecution. Rather, the claim was based on 'issues of law enforcement and general economic circumstances in Fiji'.
12 In considering the Minister's submission that the applicants had abandoned their claim of persecution for reasons of political affiliation, her Honour referred to the transcript where the solicitor stated that the bases of the applicants' claims 'really are a recital of a general fear of crime and breakdown in law and order' (at [49]). Her Honour noted that the answers to questions accompanying the application for a protection visa referred to victimisation for political activity (at [50]). However, a subsequent letter from the applicants' solicitor to the Department of 13 November 2002 referred to that application and stated that the claims related to the lease of the land. The letter referred to the claims based on race but made no reference to political activity (at [51]).
13 Federal Magistrate Emmett gave detailed consideration to the progress of the claim to persecution on the grounds of political activity or opinion. Her Honour acknowledged that that claim had been made in the application for a protection visa and was referred to by the Delegate in his decision. Her Honour summarised the status of that claim before the Tribunal at [55]:
'In the case before this Court, the Applicants have been legally represented by the same advisor in relation to their protection visa application, their review application and at the Tribunal hearing. Other than the bare assertions made in his protection visa application, there was no other evidence, material, or information provided by the First Applicant, or his legal advisor, supporting that claim. Moreover, there is no reference in the transcript of the Tribunal hearing, to any claim by the First Applicant of a fear of persecution by reason of his political opinion or imputed political opinion by any of the First Applicant, the Second Applicant or the legal advisor, all of whom participated in the hearing. Indeed, the Applicants' solicitor's submissions before the Tribunal conceded that the application was likely to fail, by reason of the absence of a Convention nexus.'
14 Her Honour did not accept that the claim was made before the Tribunal in any circumstance that would have required the Tribunal to consider it. Her Honour concluded that any such claim was abandoned (at [57] to [58]).
15 In any event, the claim to persecution for political opinion was, as put to the Delegate, related to the harassment concerning the applicants' lease. Emmett FM noted at [59] that 'at the heart of the Tribunal's decision was its finding that, while the termination of the [a]pplicants' lease may have been a discriminatory act, it did not constitute serious harm amounting to persecution'. The ground was rejected.
16 Her Honour further found that, as the application for judicial review was filed outside the time required by s 477 of the Act, the application was incompetent (at [63]).