Deng v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2001] FCA 395

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Deng v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2001] FCA 395

WEI XIONG DENG v MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS N1268 OF 2000 MADGWICK J 28 MARCH 2001 SYDNEY

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY N1268 of 2000

BETWEEN: WEI XIONG DENG

APPLICANT

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: MADGWICK J

DATE OF ORDER: 28 MARCH 2001

WHERE MADE: SYDNEY

THE COURT ORDERS THAT: 1. The application is dismissed. 2. The applicant pay the respondent's costs.

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY N1268 of 2000

BETWEEN: WEI XIONG DENG

APPLICANT

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: MADGWICK J

DATE: 28 MARCH 2001

PLACE: SYDNEY

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT (revised from transcript) HIS HONOUR: 1 This is an application for the limited form of judicial review provided by the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ("the Act") of a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal ("the Tribunal"), which affirmed a decision of a delegate of the respondent Minister refusing to grant to the applicant a protection, class XA, visa. The matter turns of course upon whether the applicant was a refugee as defined in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as amended by the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees ("the Convention").

Applicant's case 2 The applicant, a national of the People's Republic of China, arrived in Australia on 9 May 2000 and eight days later lodged an application for a visa in which he claimed, in effect, refugee status. 3 The applicant's case is that he participated in the activities of the Falun Gong movement, which apparently advises the practice of fitness and/or self-help discipline or technique. His case was that, following the declaration of Falun Gong as illegal by the