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 | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: NZYQ v Minister for Immigration overturns this decision. (November 2023) |
| 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 |
| Transcript(s) | [2003] HCATrans 456 (12 November 2003), [2003] HCATrans 458 (13 November 2003) |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | SHDB v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs [2003] FCA 30; SHDB v Godwin [2003] FCA 300 |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Gleeson CJ, McHugh, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Callinan & Heydon JJ |
| Case opinions | |
| (4:3) The Migration Act,[1] 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) | |
| Laws applied | |
Overruled by | |
| NZYQ v Minister for Immigration | |
Al-Kateb v Godwin,[2] 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.[3] 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.
The controversy surrounding the outcome of the case resulted in a review of the circumstances of twenty-four stateless people in immigration detention. Al-Kateb and 8 other stateless people were granted bridging visas in 2005 and while this meant they were released from detention, they were unable to work, study or obtain various government benefits.[4] Al-Kateb was granted a permanent visa in October 2007.[5]
In 2023, a subsequent High Court case, NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, overturned this decision.[6]
- ^ Migration Act 1958 (Cth).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
clrwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commissions Legal Bulletin. Aug-Oct 2004, Volume 10 [1] Archived 2006-09-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
AI life sentencewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Marrwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Karp, Paul (8 November 2023). "Indefinite immigration detention ruled unlawful in landmark Australian high court decision". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
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