Assessment of what happened today in the High Court..from Ian Rintoul RAC A disappointing High Court directions hearing this afternoon. Because the Tamils have been brought to Australia - the Maritime Powers Act is no longer being in force, so the judge ruled that the questions of the MPA being put to the court were moot. The issues of unlawful imprisonment may still be considered but probably by the Federal Court on a particular case for damages. The issue of the power that the government has to intercept and return people is not going to get an airing this time. This issue in particular would have had implications for interceptions even between Indonesia and Australia - in which Australia imprisons asylum seekers on Customs boats and then sends people back to Indonesia. Some of the other issues that surround the cases - are they unlawful maritime arrivals , etc wil be settled in lower courts. It now seems clearer that the government did moved the Tamils to Australia to avoid the questions of law being determined. As I said earlier in one of the press release, the government solicitor told the court last week that the government intended to hold the asylum seekers on the Customs boat -two days later they were being brought to the mainland.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 08:21:38 +0000
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