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Law student takes on Dutton
A law student has taken on Peter Dutton’s home affairs office and won, in what the Australian Catholic University has called a “breakthrough success” for an asylum seeker facing deportation and for the university’s Refugee Law Project.
Grace Ormsby
Bachelor of law and global studies student Frances Coyne joined the Refugee Law Project in her final year of law school, a project which sees the university’s students assisting asylum seekers in Federal Circuit Court matters.
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With Ms Coyne having taken on the case just before completing her studies last year, the project’s founder and Sydney barrister Victor Kline called the successful case, and the ACU’s student involvement, “a big win”.
“Frances took it on with no experience other than the Refugee Law Project and was able to identify a legal precedent that ensured we won the case,” he said.
Solicitors for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton had to concede significant legal weaknesses in their deportation case against a Bangladeshi man following an application from his legal representatives.
Ms Coyne gave a recommendation to the asylum seeker’s barrister, which enabled the citation of precedent to argue that the unnamed man could not be classified as an “unauthorised maritime arrival”.
The recent graduate said “to be involved in a favourable outcome for the client is great for the soul”, she said.
“You meet these people, hear their stories and many of them are quite sad,” Ms Coyne explained.
The Refugee Law Project sees Thomas More Law School students assisting asylum seekers in Federal Circuit Court matters.
Mr Kline said that “for someone like Frances, meeting refugees and offering a service that makes them feel comfortable and restores trust gives everyone hope that we can achieve something”.
Thomas More Law School undergraduates are required to perform 160 hours of pro bono legal service, with many choosing to do this through the Refugee Law Project.
“This isn’t filing, this is going into court, meeting clients, analysing documents, corresponding with the Minister’s solicitors and making recommendations to one of our team of pro bono barristers,” Mr Kline stated.
“This is an enormous shot in the arm, not just for the program, but for the other students. It tells them they really can make a difference,” he continued.
