Immigration

Decisions regarding the entry, stay, and deportation of aliens did not concern civil rights and obligations within the meaning of Art 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights. That applied to immigration measures which did not, or did not yet, result in proceedings but might result in immigration detention. Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) bail proceedings only took place in the direct context of deportation proceedings or immigration measures. They were an alternative to or relaxation of immigration detention and were directly in aid of contemplated deportation, conditioned on the person’s future attendance before an immigration officer. SIAC bail proceedings might affect a person’s civil and human rights, but did not determine them in the sense that the relevant issue at stake was the question of deportation. The bail proceedings were properly to be characterised as interim proceedings in the deportation proceedings or proceedings ancillary to the deportation proceedings. Article 6(1) of the Convention did not apply to them.

Bail proceedings did not determine the civil