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Immigration Act 2009

Repeals, transitional provisions, saving provisions, and related matters - Transitional and savings provisions - Appeals and other matters in relation to appellate bodies

448: Appeals and matters not determined by Refugee Status Appeals Authority before former Act repealed

You could also call this:

“Handling unfinished refugee appeals after law change”

If you made an appeal to the Refugee Status Appeals Authority under the old law, but it wasn’t decided before the new law started, the Tribunal will handle your appeal. They’ll treat it as if you made the appeal under the new law.

This applies whether you’re a New Zealand citizen or not, but there are some exceptions.

If a refugee status officer asked the Refugee Status Appeals Authority to look at something under the old law, and it wasn’t decided before the new law started, the Tribunal will handle it. They’ll treat it as if the request was made under the new law.

If your appeal is about a refugee status officer refusing to look at a new claim because they thought your home country hadn’t changed enough, the Tribunal will use the old law to decide. But if they think your new claim should be looked at, they’ll then use the new law.

If someone from the Refugee Status Appeals Authority was already assigned to your appeal before this new rule started, they’ll finish it. For this purpose only, they’ll be considered a member of the Tribunal.

The chair of the Tribunal can change these rules if they need to.

Remember, these rules are about how appeals and other matters are handled when the law changed. They make sure that things that started under the old law can be finished under the new system.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1441403.

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447: Persons eligible to appeal to appeals body (other than Refugee Status Appeals Authority) before former Act repealed, or

“Appeals for those eligible under the old Immigration Act before it was replaced”

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449: Persons eligible to appeal to Refugee Status Appeals Authority before former Act repealed, or

“Who can still appeal refugee status decisions under old rules after law change”

Part 12 Repeals, transitional provisions, saving provisions, and related matters
Transitional and savings provisions: Appeals and other matters in relation to appellate bodies

448Appeals and matters not determined by Refugee Status Appeals Authority before former Act repealed

  1. Subsection (2) applies to the completion of an appeal lodged with the Refugee Status Appeals Authority under the former Act but not determined before the commencement of section 404 of this Act.

  2. The Tribunal must determine the appeal as if it were an appeal to the Tribunal under section 194(1) or 195 of this Act, as the case may be.

  3. Subsection (2) applies—

  4. whether the person concerned is or is not a New Zealand citizen; but
    1. subject to subsections (7) and (8).

      1. Subsection (5) applies to an application by a refugee status officer under section 129L(1)(f) of the former Act to the Refugee Status Appeals Authority made but not determined before the commencement of section 404 of this Act.

      2. The Tribunal must determine the application as if it were an application to the Tribunal under section 144 or 147 of this Act, as the case may be.

      3. Subsection (5) applies—

      4. whether the person concerned is or is not a New Zealand citizen; but
        1. subject to subsections (7) and (8).

          1. Subsection (8) applies if the appeal is in respect of a decision by a refugee status officer to refuse to consider a subsequent claim (within the meaning of section 129B of the former Act) on the grounds that the circumstances in the person concerned's home country have not changed to such an extent that the subsequent claim is based on significantly different grounds to a previous claim.

          2. The Tribunal must determine the appeal in accordance with the relevant provisions of the former Act and, for that purpose, the Tribunal, in addition to its powers and functions under this Act, is deemed to have all the necessary powers and functions of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority. However, if the Tribunal determines that the subsequent claim should be considered, the Tribunal must then determine the matter as if it were an appeal to the Tribunal under section 194(1)(c) of this Act.

          3. If an appeal to which this section applies has already been allocated to a member of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority before the commencement of this section, the matter must be completed by that member and, for this purpose only, the member is deemed to be a member of the Tribunal and has all the powers and functions of a member of the Tribunal that are necessary to determine the appeal.

          4. Subsection (9) applies unless the chair of the Tribunal determines otherwise.