Patto v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 1554

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Patto v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 1554

IMMIGRATION – refugees – application for protection visa – applicant Iraqi national – applicant travelled to Greece - refused refugee status in Greece – applicant nevertheless resided in Greece for seven years – whether Greece third safe country offering effective protection against refoulement to Iraq – finding by Tribunal of legal right or practical protection – no evidence or other material to justify the making of the decision – decision based on existence of a non-existent fact – decision set aside and remitted to Tribunal. Migration Act 1958 (Cth)

Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Thiyagarajah (1998) 80 FCR 543 followed Rajendran v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (1998) 166 ALR 619 cited Al-Zafiry v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (1999) 58 ALD 663 cited Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Al Sallal (1999) 94 FCR 549 cited Jong Kin Koe v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (1997) 74 FCR 508 cited SZ v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (2000) 173 ALR 353 cited Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Gnanapiragasam (unrep, Fed Court, 25/9/98, Weinberg J) cited Tour Gul v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 1537 cited Nefiodova v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 179 cited Pat Tai Choi v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (1998) 55 ALD 140 cited Yilan v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [1999] FCA 854 followed Plender and Mole, Beyond the Geneva Convention: Constructing a De Facto Right of Asylum From International Human Rights Instruments, Nicholson and Twomey (eds), Refugee Rights and Realities Cambridge UP (1999) pp 81-105 Vedstet-Hansen, "Non-Admission Policies and the Right to Protection: Refugees' Choice versus States' Exclusion" in Nicholson and Twomey (eds) Refugee rights and Realities Cambridge UP (1999) p 271 Goodwin-Gill, The Refugee in International Law, 2nd Edition, Clarendon 1996) at p 137 K Hailbronner, The Concept of "Safe Country" and Expeditious Asylum Procedures: A Western European Perspective (1993) 5 IJRL 31 M Kjaerun, The Concept of Country of First Asylum (1992) 4 IJRL 514 Achermann and Gattiker, Safe Third Countries: European Developments (1995) 7 IJRL 19 Federal Ministry of the Interior, Recent Developments in German Law on Asylum and Aliens (1994) 6 IJRL 225 Marx and Lumpp, The German Constitutional Court's Decision of 14 May 1196 on the Concept of "Safe Third Countries" – A Basis for Burden Sharing in Europe (1996) IJRL 419 Noll, The Non-admission and Return of Protection Seekers in Germany (1997) 9 IJRL 415 Stephens, The Asylum and Immigration Act 1996: Erosion of the Right to Seek Asylum (1998) 61 MLR 207 Legomsky, The New Techniques for Managing High Volume Asylum Systems (1996) 81 Iowa Law Rev 671 Taylor, Australia's "Safe Third Country": Provisions Their Impact on Australia's Fulfilment of its Non-Refoulement Obligations (1996) 15 U Tas Law Rev 196 PETROS ESHO PATTO v THE MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS W 2 OF 2000 FRENCH J 2 NOVEMBER 2000 PERTH