Key Points:
When making a decision that affects a person's
rights or interests, adverse information, even if it is of a
confidential or personal nature, may need to be provided to the
person affected by the decision.
A recent judgment of the Federal Court reminds administrative
decision-makers that where their exercise of power is likely to
adversely affect the interests of another person, the
decision-maker may have to give that person an opportunity to
comment on adverse information that the decision-maker proposes to
rely on in making his/her decision, even if the information was
provided by a third party on a confidential basis.
In Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Maman [2012] FCAFC
13, the Full Federal Court found that the decision of the Migration
Review Tribunal was affected by jurisdictional error because Mr
Maman had not been afforded procedural fairness by being given the
opportunity to consider and comment on a confidential letter that
his
