In response, embattled Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said there was a clear statutory basis for the policy.

BBC: Australia fails to find an asylum solution

Australia will send the first group of asylum seekers to an offshore processing centre in Nauru this week, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen says.

BBC: Australia to send asylum seekers to Nauru this week

Lawyers argued that because Chris Bowen, Australia's immigration minister, could not guarantee their protection, he had no power under Australia's Migration Act to send them to Malaysia.

ECONOMIST: The government hits a legal roadblock