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Decisions for the Immigration Bill

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THE ROLE OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

  1. HRC opposes the current limitation to its jurisdiction imposed by the 1987 Act, which has been retained in the Bill. In June 2007, Cabinet invited the Minister of Immigration to lead a process of further engagement with HRC and Justice to discuss HRC’s role in the immigration system [CAB Min (07) 10/11]. HRC’s role has also been the subject of submissions to the Committee.
  2. In their submission, HRC has proposed to the Committee that the Bill be amended to allow it to seek declaratory judgments and bring legal proceedings (pursuant to an inquiry). HRC’s proposal poses significant risks:
    1. it runs contrary to the rationale that immigration decision-making inherently involves some discrimination based on personal characteristics
    2. it would establish a separate review and appeal process, by which all immigration policies could be subject to challenge, and
    3. it would mean that review and appeal processes could be subject to significant delays because of the parallel review and appeal avenues.
  3. HRC’s proposal is not a viable alternative to the status quo. Instead, two options are being recommended. Those options are:
    1. the status quo of the 1987 Act which has been retained in the Bill, or
    2. enabling HRC to intervene in legal proceedings (as an intervener or amicus curiae) in matters involving immigration law and policy.
  4. A proposal to enable HRC to intervene was outlined to the HRC in a letter from the former Minister of Immigration, and discussed with the Chief Commissioner by the Department. HRC was supportive of the option but maintained that it did not go far enough.
  5. Providing HRC with the ability to intervene would not raise significant risks to the effective functioning of the immigration system. It would bring the functions of HRC in line with other international human rights organisations. Notably, HRC has one function that the comparative institutions do not, namely, the ability to report directly to the Prime Minister on human rights matters which include immigration.
  6. Alongside the development of the option to enable HRC to intervene, the Department has been working with the HRC to establish more effective lines of communication and engagement between the two agencies, aimed at strengthening their relationship. This has resulted in the establishment of a key contact in the Department for HRC to raises issues or cases of concern, and an agreement to engage in regular relationship meetings.

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