Al-Kateb v Godwin
| Al-Kateb v Godwin | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Court | High Court of Australia |
| Full case name | Al-Kateb v Godwin & Ors |
| Decided | 6 August 2004 |
| Citation(s) | [2004] HCA 37, (2004) 219 CLR 562; 208 ALR 124 |
| Transcript(s) | [2003] HCATrans 456, [2003] HCATrans 458 |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | SHDB v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs [2003] FCA 30; SHDB v Godwin [2003] FCA 300 |
| Subsequent action(s) | none |
| Case opinions | |
|
(4:3) The Migration Act 1958 authorises unlawful non-citizens to be detained until they are removed from Australia, even when there is no prospect of their removal in the reasonably foreseeable future (per McHugh, Hayne, Callinan & Heydon JJ) |
|
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Gleeson CJ, McHugh, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Callinan & Heydon JJ |
(4:3) The Migration Act 1958 authorises unlawful non-citizens to be detained until they are removed from Australia, even when there is no prospect of their removal in the reasonably foreseeable future (per McHugh, Hayne, Callinan & Heydon JJ)
(4:1) The detention of non-citizens by the Executive pursuant to ss 189, 196 and 198 did not contravene Ch III of the Commonwealth Constitution, even if the removal of the non-citizen from Australia was not reasonably practicable in the foreseeable future. (per McHugh, Hayne, Callinan and Heydon JJ)
Al-Kateb v Godwin was a decision of the High Court of Australia, which ruled on 6 August 2004 that the indefinite detention of a stateless person was lawful. The case concerned Ahmed Al-Kateb, a Palestinian man born in Kuwait, who moved to Australia in 2000 and applied for a temporary protection visa. The Commonwealth Minister for Immigration's decision to refuse the application was upheld by the Refugee Review Tribunal and the Federal Court. In 2002, Al-Kateb declared that he wished to return to Kuwait or Gaza. However, since no country would accept Al-Kateb, he was declared stateless and detained under the policy of mandatory detention.
The two main issues considered by the High Court were whether the Migration Act 1958 (the legislation governing immigration to Australia) permitted a person in Al-Kateb's situation to be detained indefinitely, and if so, whether this was permissible under the Constitution of Australia. A majority of the court decided that the Act did allow indefinite detention, and that the Act was not unconstitutional.
...
Wikipedia