Must Give Proper Reasons

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Courts have to give proper reasons for refusing a judicial review application. If the reasons are not proper reasons then it can form the basis for a successful appeal.  This is what happened in SZKLO v MIAC [2008] FCA 735 (22.5.08) and it is a timely reminder of a judge’s obligations. Flick J concluded:

19 The duty of a judicial officer to provide reasons for decisions made, and the content of that duty, were best articulated by Meagher JA in Beale v GIO NSW (1997) 48 NSWLR 430. purpose of providing reasons. His Honour, at 441–2, thus observed:

The obligation to provide reasons for decision. It is well settled that a judge or magistrate at first instance in particular cases has an obligation to provide reasons for the judgment given…. That obligation arises as a matter of judicial duty … but only as a normal, not universal incident of the judicial process…. It does not arise from legislation as it does in the field of administrative law…:  Despite the fact that the obligation on courts to provide reasons may have a different origin, the former being an incident of judicial duty and the latter being a legislative requirement, there is no reason in principle or as a matter of policy why the content of reasons for both types of decision should not be similar, if not the same: they essentially serve the same purpose. The purpose of providing reasons for decision Perhaps the primary reason for an obligation on courts to provide reasons is the fact that a party seeking an appeal may generally only appeal where the trial judge has made an error of law. The absence of reasons or insufficient reasons may not allow an appeal court to determine whether the trial judge’s verdict was or was not based on an error of law or an appealable error. However, the provision of full reasons has other benefits. A failure to provide sufficient reasons can and often does lead to a real sense of grievance that a party does not know or understand why the decision was made…. This court has previously accepted the proposition that a judge is bound to expose his reasoning in sufficient detail to enable a losing party to understand why they lost…. One reason is obvious: if decisions cannot be understood, a feeling of injustice can arise and, as Justice Brennan of the US Supreme Court (see Huxtable, “A Question-Mark Over The Adversarial System” (Dee 1995) 30 (No 11) Australian Lawyer 17) recently perhaps overstated: “…Nothing rankles more in the human heart than a brooding sense of injustice. Illness we can put up with. But injustice makes us want to pull things down.” Aside from the sense of injustice which can be caused, there is a broader interest in maintaining public acceptance of judicial decisions and the judicial system. The requirement to provide reasons can operate prophylactically on the judicial mind, guarding against the birth of an unconsidered or impulsive decision. It enhances judicial accountability. The provision of reasons has an educative effect: it exposes the trial judge or magistrate to review and criticism and it facilitates and encourages consistency in decisions. The educative effect does not stop with judges but extends to other lawyers, to government and to the public. Decisions of courts usually influence the way in which society acts and it is trite to point out that it is better to understand why one should act in a particular way. The provision of adequate reasons will save time for appeal courts both in reducing the number of appeals and in reducing the time taken in considering any appeals. Thus, any increase in judicial resources required at the trial level should be countered by a reduction in judicial resources required at the appellate level. …

 20 In Connell v Auckland City Council [1977] 1 NZLR 630, Chilwell J helpfully provided a further reminder as to the value that reasons serve in the administration of justice. His Honour there observed, at 634:

A matter which I have not mentioned, which is another reason for requiring the stating of reasons, is this: every litigant who loses his action, whether it be in the civil or criminal jurisdiction, is a disappointed litigant. That is inevitable and is a logical result of our judicial system. There is all the world of difference between a disappointed litigant and a disturbed litigant. In the latter category come litigants who cannot understand why the decision went against him. In this case the appellant would be justified in feeling disturbed as he presumably does because he has brought this appeal. He is disturbed that justice did not appear to him to have been done. It is of the utmost importance that Her Majesty’s subjects should have faith in our judicial system. By far the greatest number of civil and criminal cases come before the lower court. One should not draw distinctions between courts but it is of fundamental importance that the lower courts, which deal with so much work and with whom the average citizen has greater contact, should maintain respect for and faith in the judicial system.

The Federal Court found that the reasons the Federal Magistrate gave for refusing the judicial review application did not adequately explain the why the application was refused.

The Court also rejected the submission that the appellant was going to appeal anyway so what is the point of granting the appeal:

40 However that course… should be resisted for a number of reasons.

41 First, the initial responsibility to review the decision of the Tribunal has been entrusted by Commonwealth Parliament to the Federal Magistrates Court, not to this Court. However administratively convenient it may be for this Court to “fill the gap” in those rare circumstances where there is found to be an inadequacy in the approach pursued by a Federal Magistrate, to do so would not be consistent with the processes of review as prescribed by the legislature.

42 Second, of considerable value is the discipline that the process of reasoning imposes upon any judicial office-holder. What may appear to be a self-evident result at the outset of proceedings may confront difficulties unforeseen until the drafting of reasons commences; and what may initially be considered self-evidently correct may prove to be manifestly wrong as the discipline of drafting reasons progresses. Even if the Federal Magistrate in the present proceedings does ultimately reach the same conclusion, the legislature has entrusted the responsibility to review the Tribunal’s decision to the Federal Magistrate. This Court performs an appellate function. The decision of the Federal Magistrate should not usually be pre-empted by too readily concluding on appeal that only one result was open to the Federal Magistrate.

43 Third, this Court is heavily dependent upon the Federal Magistrates Court, particularly in the migration jurisdiction, and relies to a considerable extent upon the reasons for those decisions which are the subject of appeal. It is not considered that this Court should be denied the significant benefit that it receives from the reasoned decisions of the Federal Magistrates Court.