Supreme court justice says Christmas Island officers used a contrived reason to disregard his orders to allow class action lawyers into detention centre

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A Victorian judge has slammed “high-handed” immigration officers for disregarding court orders and blocking access to lawyers representing asylum seekers on Christmas Island.



The lawyers who were denied access are suing the federal government for neglecting to provide the asylum seekers with proper medical care.



Their class action claims the government and the immigration minister should compensate any asylum seeker who was injured, pregnant or had an existing condition made worse while they were being detained on Christmas Island.



The legal firm Maurice Blackburn says two of its lawyers were refused access to a compound during a three-day period in April despite court orders saying they could gather evidence for their clients’ case.



An immigration department officer refused, saying inspection would intrude on the privacy of the people detained there.



The lawyers had been invited to inspect the compound’s accommodation units by three asylum seekers. They also had the consent of other asylum seekers in the compound.

The impasse prompted a side hearing before Victorian supreme court justice Stephen Kaye, during which the immigration department then said that access had been blocked because of security concerns.



In a ruling sent to the parties this week, Kaye criticised the immigration department’s decision to refuse access.



“It is clear on the materials that that reason was contrived and was not the true reason why the request made by the solicitors was refused,” he says in the judgment.



“In my view, the conduct of the officers of the defendants was, in this case, high-handed and it involved an unacceptable disregard for the orders that I made.”



Kaye ordered the immigration department to pay Maurice Blackburn’s costs, believed to be $10,000.



The firm’s principal, Jacob Varghese, said in a statement the court acknowledged immigration authorities had wasted Maurice Blackburn’s time and resources through their actions.