Editors --- "The Migration Litigation Reform Act" [2006] AdminRw 28; (2006) 57 Admin Review 100

• The Migration Litigation Reform Act

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The Migration Litigation Reform Act

The Migration Litigation Reform Act 2005 (Cth) was assented to and came into effect on 15 November 2005.^[1] The Act amends the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and other legislation and is part of a raft of amendments designed to ensure more efficient management of migration litigation.

The main amendments introduced by the Act are as follows:

• directing migration cases to the Federal Magistrates Court for more efficient handling

• ensuring identical grounds of review in migration cases

• imposing uniform time limits in all migration cases

• facilitating speedier handling of cases by improving court processes, including

– requiring applicants to disclose previous applications for judicial review of the same migration decision

– providing that appeals against decisions of federal magistrates made under the Migration Act will be heard by a Federal Court judge sitting alone, unless a judge considers it is appropriate to refer the case to a Full Court

– expressly providing for the High Court to remit migration and other cases filed in the High Court’s original jurisdiction on the papers

• deterring unmeritorious applications by broadening the ground on which the High Court, the Federal Court and the Federal Magistrates Court can summarily dispose of proceedings.

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^[1] The amendments contained in Schedule 2 of the Act came into effect on 1 December 2005.