In a directions hearing on Wednesday, Gordon J rebuffed an attempt by Julian Burnside QC to avoid having a challenge to the Court’s 2004 Al-Kateb ruling heard in February (because he would be overseas) saying:

Well, the difficulty about it is twofold, Mr Burnside. One is that – and this is why they are insurmountable hurdles – this case, your client, has been in detention for a long time; that is the first. The second is that the Court’s workload in March and April is extraordinarily large and so, in the circumstances, the Court thinks that it would be in a sense the only opportunity and window to hear what I suspect is a one-day case in the second week of February.

This is the first indication from a High Court judge of the Court’s 2019 workload. What is not clear (to me, at least) is what the Court’s extraordinary workload in March and April next year will comprise. Continue reading →