The Impact and Significance of Teoh and Lam

Abstract

There are many similarities in the factual and legal foundations of the High Court cases of Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh (Teoh) and Re Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs; Ex parte Lam (Lam). Both Teoh and Lam concern individuals who were facing the revocation of their Australian entry visas, and consequently deportation, due to drug offences. In challenging these decisions, both Mr Teoh and Mr Lam claimed that they had been denied procedural fairness on the basis that they had a legitimate expectation that a course of conduct would be pursued by officers of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural/Ethnic Affairs. Both men were fathers of Australia..