Trevor Sargent
Question:66 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Justice when the proposed legislation on refugee protection will be introduced.
Written Answers. - Legislation on Refugee Protection.
On 14 January 1994 I announced the publication of the interdepartmental committee report on application for refugee status which recommended that arrangements for examining and deciding applications for refugee status should be placed on a statutory footing with provision for an appeals mechanism.
A general scheme of a Bill taking account of the recommendations of the interdepartmental committee report was drawn up and submitted to the Government. On Tuesday 1 March 1994 the Government, having considered my proposals, gave formal approval for the drafting of a Bill.
It is my intention that the Bill will be introduced as soon as possible and when work on drafting of the Bill has been completed, I will arrange for its immediate publication.