Wah, P.Y. v Murrell, W.A. & Anor [1986] FCA 196

' RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA ) QUEENSLAND DISTRICT REGISTRY ) QLD G29 of 1986 GENERAL DIVISION )

BETWEEN : PHANG YOOK WAH

Applicant AND:

W.A. MURRELL First Respondent AND: THE MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND ETHNIC AFFAIRS

Second Respondent

SPENDER J. BRISBANE

21 APRIL, 1986

EXTEMPORE REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

On Friday last at about 5 o'clock, Phang Yook Wah lodged

an application under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial

Review) Act 1977 (hereafter called "the Judicial Review Act") seeking to review the decision of the first respondent who is a stipendiary magistrate at Nambour, which decision was made on

Friday, 18 April 1986 authorising the detention of the applicant

until 28 April 1986.

/ POY

That order was made by Mr. Murrell in the purported

exercise of his power under s.38 of the Migration Act. That

section, which is headed 'Arrest of prohibited non-citizen',

provides in sub-section 1:-

"An officer may, without warrant, arrest a person whom he reasonably supposes to be a prohibited non-citizen, and a person so arrested may, subject to this section, be kept in the custody of any officer or in such other custody as the Minister or an authorized officer directs."

Where that person is brought before a prescribed

authority, sub-section 3 requires the prescribed authority (1n

this case Mr. Murrell) to:-

+..ingquire anto the question whether there are reasonable grounds for supposing that that person

is a prohibited non-citizen and, if the prescribed authority 1s satisfied that there are such

reasonable grounds, he may, by writing under his hand, authorize the detention of that person in custody for such period as the prescribed authority 15 satisfied is reasonably required in order to enable the Minister to consider whether that person 15 a prohibited non-citizen and whether a deportation order should be made in