The Federal Circuit Court decision last week denying 11 month old Ferouz Myuddin (Baby Ferouz) a protection visa stunned many.
In a case involving the interpretation of an increasingly Kafka-esque Migration Act, Federal Circuit Court judge Michael Jarrett ruled that baby Ferouz was an "unauthorised maritime arrival", and therefore ineligible to apply for a protection visa, despite Ferouz being a stateless Rohingyan physically born at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane.
This case, and its forthcoming appeal, was run entirely on a pro bono basis. Pro bono generally describes free legal work done by private lawyers for clients who cannot otherwise afford to pay for it.
Baby Ferouz's legal team consisted of solicitors from law firm Maurice Blackburn, and senior barristers including the former Solicitor-General of Queensland, Walter Sofronoff QC. In addition to the many hours spent crafting legal argument, Ferouz's lawyers also incurred significant cost undertaking many trips to the Pinkenba Detention Centre and phone calls to the Blaydin Detention Centre in Darwin to obtain statements and instructions from Ferouz's parents.
Running a case of this size and complexity against such a well-resourced respondent, the Federal Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, would have cost well over $100,000 in time and expertise. Would a private dentist, doctor or accountant routinely perform free root canals, medical procedures or yearly tax returns to the same extent? Why would lawyers do such a thing?
The role of lawyers in our society is much-tarnished. The Shakespearean edict to kill all the lawyers is familiar to us all, as are those unfortunate lawyer jokes (Q: How many lawyer jokes are there? A: Only three. All the rest are true stories.) Comments by senior politicians describing some lawyers as 'part of the criminal gang machine' further undermine the reputation of lawyers in this state.
And yet, all over Queensland, lawyers of all hues and expertise are regularly, quietly and systematically serving their communities through pro bono work. Occasionally, cases such as the Baby Ferouz decision allow us to glimpse this work through a media lens, but for the most part, much of their efforts go unrecognised and unrewarded.
A primary reason why lawyers do pro bono work is because they have a professional obligation to support the rule of law. Helping vulnerable clients to challenge legal decisions, or to seek a legal remedy, strengthens the rule of law because it increases their access to justice. Pro bono work demonstrates that a lawyer's job is one of service: service to the courts, to their clients and to their communities. Pro bono work is not a panacea. It is not the solution to unmet legal need.
It is, however, a defining feature of the legal profession, without which Baby Ferouz would not have had his day in court.
--Monica Taylor is director of the UQ Pro Bono Centre
