Cranwell, Glen --- "Treaties and Australian Law - Administrative Discretions, Statutes and the Common Law" [2001] QUTLawJJl 5; (2001) 1(1) Queensland University of Technology Law and Justice Journal 49
[*] BSc, LLB(Hons) (Qld), LLM
(Melb), GDipBA (QUT); Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High
Court of Australia, Legal
Practitioner of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
and of the Australian Capital Territory; Solicitor, Clayton Utz.
[1] [1995] HCA 20; (1995) 183 CLR
273.
[2] The Parlement
Belge (1879) 4 PD 179; Walker v Baird [1892] AC 491 at 497;
Attorney-General for Canada v Attorney-General for Ontario [1937] AC 326;
Blackburn v Attorney-General [1971] 1 WLR 1037; Maclaine Watson &
Co Ltd v Department of Trade and Industry [1989] 3 All ER 523. See also I
Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law, 4th edn
Clarendon Press Oxford 1990 at 48; I Shearer, Starke’s International
Law, 11th edn Butterworths London 1994 at
71-2.
[3] For the historical
background to the development of this rule, see W Holdsworth, ‘The
Treaty-Making Power of the Crown’
(1942) 58 LQR
175.
[4] See Brownlie supra
n 2 at
47-8.
[5] Maclaine Watson &
Co Ltd v Department of Trade and Industry supra n
2 at 545 per Lord
Oliver.
[6] [1937] AC
326.
[7] Ibid at
347.
[8] Brown v Lizars
[1905] HCA 24; (1905) 2 CLR 837 at 851 per Griffith CJ; Roche v Kronheimer [1921] HCA 25; (1921) 29 CLR
329; Chow Hung Ching [1948] HCA 37; (1948) 77 CLR 449 at 478 per Dixon J; Bradley v
Commonwealth [1973] HCA 34; (1973) 128 CLR 557 at 582 per Barwick CJ and Gibbs J, 593 per
Stephen J; Simsek v Macphee (1982) 148 CLR 636 per Stephen J;
Tasmanian Wilderness Society v Fraser (1982) 152 CLR 270; Koowarta v
Bjelke-Petersen [1982] HCA 27; (1982) 153 CLR 168 at 193 per Gibbs CJ, 212 per Stephen J,
224 per Mason J; Kioa v West [1985] HCA 81; (1985) 159 CLR 550 at 570 per Gibbs CJ;
Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992) 175 CLR 1 at 55 per Brennan J (Mason CJ
and McHugh J concurring), 79 per Deane and Gaudron JJ; Chu Kheng Lim v
Commonwealth (1992) 176 CLR 1 at 74 per McHugh J; Dietrich v R [1992] HCA 57; (1992)
177 CLR 292 at 305 per Mason CJ and McHugh J, 359-60 per Toohey J; Coe v
Commonwealth [1993] HCA 42; (1993) 118 ALR 193 at 200-1 per Mason CJ; Minister for
Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh supra n
1 at 287 per Mason CJ and Deane J (Gaudron J
concurring), 370 per Toohey J, 384 per McHugh J; Kruger v Commonwealth
[1997] HCA 27; (1997) 146 ALR 126 at 161 per Dawson
J.
[9] See, eg, Bradley v
Commonwealth supra n 8 at 582 per Barwick
CJ and Gibbs J; Simsek v Macphee supra n
8 at 642 per Stephen J; Kioa v West
supra n 8 at 570 per Gibbs
CJ.
[10] See, eg, Chow Hung
Ching supra n 8 at 478 per Dixon
J; Simsek v Macphee supra n 8 at 641
per Stephen J; Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen supra n
8 at 193 per Gibbs CJ, 224 per Mason J;
Mabo v Queensland (No 2) supra n 8 at
55 per Brennan J (Mason CJ and McHugh J concurring), 79 per Deane and Gaudron
JJ; Coe v Commonwealth supra n 8 at
200-1 per Mason CJ.
[11] The
exceptions stated in the text are sufficiently explained with sufficient
supporting judicial authority in J Crawford and W Edeson,
‘International
Law and Australian Law’ in K Ryan (ed), International Law in
Australia, 2nd edn Law Book Company Sydney 1984 at 94-7; J
Starke, ‘The High Court of Australia and the rule in Walker v Baird [1892]
AC 491’
(1974) 48 ALJ
368.
[12] F Mann, Foreign
Affairs in English Courts, Clarendon Press Oxford 1986 at
87.
[13] Victorian
Stevedoring and Construction Co Ltd and Meakes v Dignan [1931] HCA 34; (1931) 46 CLR
73.
[14] Australian
Constitution, ss 51-2.
[15]
Official Record of the Debates of the Australasian Federal Convention,
Sydney 1891 Appendix (emphasis
added).
[16] See G McGinley,
‘The Status of Treaties in Australian Municipal Law: The Principle of
Walker v Baird Reconsidered’ [1990] AdelLawRw 6; (1990) 12 Adelaide LR 367 at
368-9.
[17] J La Nauze, The
Making of the Australian Constitution, Melbourne University Press Melbourne
1972 at 184.
[18] Official
Records of the Debates of the Australasian Federal Convention, Sydney 1897
at 240. For an explanation of why Mr Reid used this argument see B de Garis,
‘The Colonial Office and the Commonwealth
Bill’ in Martin (ed),
Essays in Australian Federation, Melbourne University Press Melbourne
1969 at 110.
[19] J Quick
& R Garran, The Annotated Constitution of the Australian
Commonwealth, Angus & Robertson Sydney 1901 at
353.
[20] [1978] HCA 54; (1979) 142 CLR
583.
[21] [1979] HCA 65; (1979) 143 CLR
575.
[22] [1985] HCA 6; (1985) 156 CLR
385.
[23] See, eg, Hazlett v
Presnell [1982] HCA 58; (1982) 149 CLR 107; J v Lieschke [1987] HCA 4; (1987) 162 CLR 447 at 463
per Deane J; Street v Queensland Bar Association [1989] HCA 53; (1989) 168 CLR 461 at
510 per Brennan J; Secretary, Department of Health and Community Services v
JWB and SMB [1992] HCA 15; (1992) 175 CLR 218 at 266 per Brennan
J.
[24] M Kirby, ‘The
Australian Use of International Human Rights Norms: From Bangalore to Balliol -
A View From the Antipodes’
(1993) 16 UNSWLR
363.
[25] Supra n
8.
[26]
Ibid at 42 (emphasis
added).
[27] Ibid at
43.
[28] Ibid at
109.
[29] K Walker,
‘Treaties and the Internationalisation of Australian Law’ in C
Saunders (ed), Courts of Final Jurisdiction, Federation Press Sydney 1996
at 213.
[30] Supra n
8.
[31]
See especially ibid at 311-2 per Mason CJ and McHugh J, 337 per Deane J,
361-2 per Toohey J.
[32]
Ibid at 321.
[33]
Ibid at 323-4.
[34]
Ibid at 348-9. This is discussed in greater detail in Part 5 of this
article, below.
[35] Ibid
at 349.
[36] Ibid at
305.
[37] Ibid at
306.
[38] Ibid at
307.
[39] Ibid at 300,
307.
[40] Ibid at
360.
[41] Ibid at
360-1.
[42] Ibid at
337.
[43] Supra n
21.
[44] [1993] HCA 74; (1993) 178 CLR
477.
[45] Ibid at
499-500.
[46] Supra n
22 at
395.
[47] See supra n
44 at 489-97 per Mason CJ and Toohey J,
539-42 per McHugh J.
[48]
Ibid at 508.
[49]
Ibid at 532, 534.
[50]
[1995] HCA 47; (1995) 183 CLR 373.
[51]
Ibid at 486.
[52]
Supra n 1. The case is discussed in
greater detail in Part 4 of this article,
below.
[53] Ibid at
304.
[54] Ibid at
288.
[55]
Ibid.
[56] Ibid
at 288.
[57] Ibid at
315.
[58] See, eg, Minister
for Foreign Affairs and Trade v Magno [1992] FCA 566; (1992) 37 FCR 298; Teoh v Minister
for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs [1994] FCA 1017; (1994) 121 ALR 436 at
443 per Black CJ.
[59] See, eg,
Re Marion (1990) 14 Fam LR 427; cf Re Jane (1988) 12 Fam LR
662.
[60] See, eg, Daemar v
Industrial Commission of New South Wales (1998) 12 NSWLR 45; S & M
Motors Pty Ltd v Caltex Oil (Australia) Pty Ltd (1998) 12 NSWLR 358; Jago
v District Court of New South Wales (1988) 12 NSWLR
558.
[61] This seems to be the
way in which international law was used in Mabo and EPA v Caltex
and also to accord with the rejection of the ICCPR as justification for a
fundamental change in the common law in Dietrich, while permitting its
use in the less radical development of the common law notion of ‘fair
trial’.
[62] On this
notion, see Dietrich supra n 8 at
360-1 per Toohey J.
[63] Sir
John Laws, ‘Is the High Court the Guardian of Fundamental Constitutional
Rights?’ [1993] Public Law 59 at
63.
[64] Minister for
Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh supra n
1 per Mason CJ, Deane, Toohey, and Gaudron
JJ; McHugh J dissenting.
[65]
Supra n
8.
[66]
Ibid at 643.
[67]
Supra n
8.
[68]
Supra n 1 at
281.
[69] Teoh v Minister for
Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs supra n
58.
[70]
Ibid at 450 per Lee J, 446 per Carr
J.
[71] Supra n
1 at 291 (emphasis added). Australian courts
are not alone in placing such weight on the consequences of ratification of
treaties.
The New Zealand Court of Appeal in Tavita v Minister for
Immigration (1994) 2 NZLR 257 at 266 described the government’s
argument that it is entitled to ignore treaties to which New Zealand is a party,
as “an
unattractive argument” which implies that New Zealand’s
adherence to international instruments “has been partly
window
dressing”.
[72]
Ibid at 301.
[73]
Ibid at 291 per Mason CJ and Deane J, 301 per Toohey
J.
[74] Ibid at 291-2 per
Mason CJ and Deane J.
[75]
Commonwealth, Hansard, Senate Legal and Constitutional References
Committee 1 May 1995, 110 (Mr P
Bayne).
[76] Supra n
1 at
305.
[77] J Kidd, ‘Can
International Law Protect Our Civil Rights? The Australian and British
Experience Compared’ (1995) 18 UQLJ 305 at
309.
[78] Supra n
1 at
311-2.
[79] Ibid at 312,
citing P Tate, ‘The Coherence of “Legitimate Expectations” and
the Foundations of Natural Justice’
[1988] MonashULawRw 2; (1988) 14 Monash LR 15 at
48-9.
[80] Ibid at
313.
[81] Ibid.
[82] M Allars, Introduction
to Australian Administrative Law, Butterworths Sydney 1990 at
238.
[83] [1969] 2 Ch
149.
[84] [1983] UKPC 2; [1983] 2 AC
629.
[85] [1990] HCA 22; (1990) 169 CLR
648.
[86] See also Senate Legal
and Constitutional Legislation Committee, Administrative Decisions (Effect of
International Instruments) Bill 1995, Senate Canberra 1995 at
3-6.
[87] Supra n
1 at 314. See also G Evans, ‘The
Impact of Internationalisation on Australian Law: A Commentary’ in
Saunders supra n 29 at 239, noting
that the expectation has to have a “whiff of objective reality about
it”.
[88] Ibid at
316. See also Evans supra n 87 at
238: “[R]atification is a statement to the international community
to observe the treaty measures in question; it is not a statement to the
national community - that is the job of the Legislature, not the
Executive.”
[89]
Ibid.
[90] See R v
Chief Immigration Officer; ex parte Bibi [1976] 1 WLR 979 at 984-5 per Lord
Denning MR.
[91] J McMillan,
‘Teoh, and Invalidity in Administrative Law’ (1995) 5 AIAL
Forum 10 at 14.
[92]
Supra n 1 at
318-9.
[93] Ibid at
319.
[94] Ibid at 320.
See also J McMillan, ‘Recent Themes in Judicial Review of Federal
Executive Action’ (1996) 24 FL Rev 347 at
371.
[95] See, eg, Vaitaiki v
Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs [1998] FCA 5; (1998) 150 ALR 608 (FFC); Lam
v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (unreported, Federal Court of
Australia, Sackville J, 4 March 1998); Hui v Minister for Immigration and
Ethnic Affairs (unreported, Federal Court of Australia, Carr J, 21 July
1999).
[96] Supra n
1 at 291 per Mason CJ and Deane
J.
[97] Ibid at 302 per
Toohey J.
[98] Joint Statement
by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Gareth Evans, and the
Attorney-General, Michael Lavarch, International Treaties and the High Court
Decision in Teoh, 10 May 1995. An executive statement in almost identical
terms was issued by the South Australian Attorney-General on 8 June 1995.
The
Western Australian Attorney-General made a statement in Parliament on 24 August
1995 in similar terms.
[99]
Ibid at 2.
[100]
Ibid. It should be noted that the statement will not operate
retrospectively to defeat claims arising on the basis of a legitimate
expectation
generated before the statement was made: see Fang v Minister for
Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1996) 135 ALR 583 at 604 per Carr
J.
[101] Joint Statement by
the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, and the Attorney-General,
Daryl Williams, The Effect of Treaties in Administrative Decision Making,
25 February 1997.
[102]
Ibid.
[103] M Allars,
‘International Law and Administrative Discretion’ in B Opeskin &
D Rothwell (eds), International Law and Australian Federalism, Melbourne
University Press Melbourne 1997 at
266-8.
[104] Ibid at
267.
[105] Ibid at
267-8.
[106] M Allars,
‘One Small Step for Legal Doctrine, One Giant Step Towards Integrity in
Government: Teoh’s Case and the Internationalisation of
Administrative Law’ [1995] SydLawRw 16; (1995) 17 Syd LR 204 at
221-6.
[107] (1996) 23 AAR
134.
[108] Ibid at 140.
See also Re Yad Ram and Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs
(1995) 22 AAR 372 (AAT); Fang v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic
Affairs supra n 100; Davey Browne v
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (1998) 27 AAR 353;
Tien v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [1998] FCA 1552; (1999) 159 ALR
405; Baldini v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
(unreported, Federal Court of Australia, Drummond J, 25 February
2000).
[109] Baldini v
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs supra n
108 at para 30 illustrates that the
obligation imposed by Teoh can be overridden by a ministerial policy or
direction that establishes a detailed code to provide guidance to
decision-makers.
[110]
Administrative Decisions (Effect of International Instruments) Bill 1995
(Cth).
[111] Administrative
Decisions (Effect of International Instruments) Bill 1997
(Cth).
[112] See Senate Legal
and Constitutional Legislation Committee, Administrative Decisions (Effect of
International Instruments) Bill 1997, Senate Canberra
1997.
[113] House of
Representatives, Administrative Decisions (Effect of International Instruments)
Bill 1999, Explanatory Memorandum 1999 at
1.
[114] M Allars,
‘International Law and Administrative Discretion’ supra n
103 at 268.
[115] Section
3.
[116] Collins v State of
South Australia (unreported, Supreme Court of South Australia, Millhouse J,
25 June 1999).
[117] G Evans
supra n 87 at 239, stated that if
Teoh did not incorporate treaties through the back door, it had certainly
brought them “through the back gate as far as the back
garden”. See
also M Taggart, ‘Legitimate Expectations and Treaties in the High Court of
Australia’ (1996) 112 LQR 50 at 53; R Piotrowicz,
‘Unincorporated treaties in Australian law’ [1996] Public Law
190 at 192-3.
[118] Supra
n 58 at
304.
[119] See now Government
Response to the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Report ‘Trick
or Treaty? Commonwealth Power
to Make and Implement Treaties’, tabled in
the Senate on 2 May 1996.
[120]
See, eg, Polites v Commonwealth [1945] HCA 3; (1945) 70 CLR 60 at 68-9, 77,
80-1.
[121] (1974) 48 ALJR 132
at 135.
[122] [1977] HCA 10; (1977) 139 CLR
28 at 43-4.
[123] Supra
n 8 at
306.
[124] Ibid at
348-9.
[125] (1992) 176 CLR
1.
[126] Ibid at 38 per
Brennan, Deane and Dawson
JJ.
[127] With whom Gaudron J
agreed on this point.
[128]
See R v Secretary of State for the Home Department; ex parte Brind
[1991] UKHL 4; [1991] 1 AC 696 at 747-8 per Lord
Bridge.
[129] Supra n
1 at 287, and see 315 per McHugh
J.
[130] Ibid at
287-8.
[131] [1998] HCA 22; (1998) 152 ALR
540.
[132] Ibid at
599.
[133] Potter v
Minahan [1908] HCA 63; (1908) 7 CLR 277 at 304; Re Bolton; ex parte Beane [1987] HCA 12; (1987) 162
CLR 514 at 523 per Brennan J; Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v
Commonwealth [1992] HCA 45; (1992) 177 CLR 106 at 183 per Dawson J; Nationwide News v
Wills [1992] HCA 46; (1992) 177 CLR 1 at 43 per Brennan
J.
[134] H Lauterpacht,
‘Is International Law a Part of the Law of England’ (1939) 25
Transcripts of the Grotius Society 51 at
58.
[135] [1997] HCA 38; (1997) 147 ALR
42.
[136] Ibid at
147.
[137] See also Senate
Legal and Constitutional References Committee, Trick or Treaty? Commonwealth
Power to Make and Implement Treaties, Senate Canberra 1995 at
93-4.