Federal Court - review of adverse ASIO security assessments

In Jaffarie v Director General of Security [2014] FCAFC 102 (18 August 2014) Jaffarie was assessed by ASIO in June 2013 to be a risk to "security" under section 4 of the ASIO Act 1979 (Cth).  This triggered a number of decisions adverse to Jaffarie under the Migration Act 1958.  Jaffarie's action in the original jurisdiction of the High Court to challenge the assessment was remitted to the Federal Court and determined by a Full Court which dismissed it.

The Full Court considered how public interest immunity claims for information said to relate to national security were to be determined, how statements of reasons voluntarily supplied to the Court in confidence were to be considered, what constitutes a "serious threat" and what constitutes Australia's "territorial and border integrity". 

The Court rejected as misconceived an argument that the making of a security assessment constituted interference with judicial power of the Commonwealth.  It rejected a submission that the Minister of Immigration had denied Jaffarie procedural fairness, by considering classified material but only advising Jaffarie of unclassified reasons.