CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock on Tuesday denied trying to pressure Australian judges to stay out of appeals cases involving rejected asylum applications.
Ruddock was responding to a statement Monday by Chief Justice Michael Black accusing him of criticizing the Federal Court’s efforts to hear appeals by refugees who had their asylum applications turned down.
The legal spat has brewed into a court battle over a blurring of the separation of powers between the judicial and executive arms of government.
In a statement read by the government’s chief advocate, Solicitor-General David Bennett, Ruddock denied trying to influence judges and said “criticism of particular court judgments are appropriate subjects for public debate.”
Ruddock’s hardline stance against asylum seekers was seen by analysts as a major factor in the government’s third-term election win last November. As part of its crackdown on asylum seekers, the government passed laws last year limiting the role of courts in the asylum appeal process, saying they often were too lenient in such cases.
