Lawyer Nik Dragojlovic says Novak Djokovic was denied procedural fairness during the protracted saga

A barrister who represented Novak Djokovic during his 2022 visa battle has opened up on his star client’s “aura” and why he thinks legal process “wasn’t followed as it should have been”.

The leading Australian barrister who represented Novak Djokovic during his visa battle in 2022 has lifted the lid on why the federal government used its “god powers” to deport the unvaccinated Serbian tennis champion.

Nik Dragojlovic says Djokovic was denied procedural fairness as the protracted saga played out under the guise of protecting Australians from the further spread of Covid-19.

Then immigration minister Alex Hawke used his personal powers to cancel Djokovic’s visa for a second time after he was originally cleared to leave detention.

“In a nutshell, my paraphrase or summary of it, the minister considered that Novak Djokovic’s presence in Australia may pose a risk to health, safety and good order,’’ Dragojlovic said.

Tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa was cancelled. Picture: AFP

“Something along those lines. That was based on the fact that he wasn’t vaccinated against Covid-19. And that there was a portion of the Australian community who were against mandatory vaccinations against Covid-19 and they were holding Novak Djokovic up as an icon or poster boy for their cause. And that cause was against government policy which was to encourage the entirety of the population to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

“There’s no basis to challenge on procedural fairness. The Minister didn’t need to ask Novak Djokovic or give him an opportunity to respond to the proposal to cancel his visa. That happened in that first instance when the ABF officer gave a notice. We said at the time the process wasn’t followed as it should have been. For the second decision that wasn’t required at all.”

Novak Djokovic was denied procedural fairnes, his lawyer Nik Dragojlovic says. Picture: Getty

The case attracted intense public interest, with more than 20,000 people worldwide tuning in to the court’s livestream.

Djokovic has since said he’s still traumatised by the experience.

Dragojlovic spoke on the new Brief Chats podcast with Anna Svenson, of Svenson Barristers, which launches on Wednesday.

“Border officials told him they were thinking of cancelling his visa and variously at three or four in the morning he hadn’t had a chance to consult with lawyers or Tennis Australia,’’ Dragojlovic said.

Djokovic says he’s still traumatised by the experience. Picture: Getty

“They then promised him, OK you can have until 8-8.30 in the morning. During business hours, they afforded him, we’ll give you til that early morning so we can get in touch with someone when they’re awake. Then they came back some time later and said actually we’re not going to give you that time, why don’t we just get on with this.

“If we cancel your visa then your lawyers will have something to appeal against. He was promised he’d had until 8-8.30 and that was then revoked and he didn’t have an opportunity to properly advocate about why they shouldn’t cancel his visa so there was a denial of procedural fairness.”

On that basis the original decision was overturned, but a week later it was reinstated.

Dragojlovic said Djokovic was “inspiring” in the way he dealt with the situation.

“He struck me as a very impressive individual,’’ he said.

“Can certainly appreciate why he’s no.1 tennis player in the world. He’s very humble and has a lot of humility. He’s extremely intelligent, speaks a multitude of languages quite fluently.

“We see in the media how he’s thoughtful about some of the issues that he thinks about and deals with and interacts with. He was quite inspiring to be around, a great privilege and honour to meet him and spend that time with him in unfortunate circumstances. There’s something about those people who are at the pinnacle and elite levels that there’s a certain aura about them.”

The Brief Chats podcast, hosted by Anna Svenson of Svenson Barristers, is out on Wednesday and produced by Session In Progress.

Originally published as Lawyer Nik Dragojlovic says Novak Djokovic was denied procedural fairness during the protracted saga