Five Australian women who were strip-searched and invasively examined at Doha airport in 2020 have won the right to sue Qatar Airways, following a successful appeal in Australia’s Federal Court.
The women were among several passengers transiting through Doha on a Qatar Airways flight to Sydney when they were forcibly deboarded and subjected to invasive physical examinations. Authorities were reportedly searching for a woman who had recently given birth after a newborn was found abandoned in an airport bathroom.
The group filed a lawsuit in 2021 against Qatar Airways, Qatar's Civil Aviation Authority and the operators of Hamad International Airport, a firm called Matar, according to BBC.
In 2024, Australia’s Federal Court initially ruled that the women could not sue the airline directly as the airline could not be held responsible for the actions of the Qatari Police. The judge also noted that the airline might be protected by sovereign immunity.
According to Justice John Halley, Qatar Airways could not be held responsible under a multilateral treaty called the Montreal Convention, which establishes airline liability in the event of death or injury to passengers. Additionally, airline staff could not have influenced the actions of Qatari police or the nurses who examined the women.
The case against Qatar's aviation regulator was also struck out after Halley found it was immune from foreign prosecution. However, the women could proceed with parts of their case against Matar.
According to BBC, the women appealed the case and the full bench of the Federal Court found that the primary judge had made the rulings on issues that should be determined at trial.
As a result, the court upheld Halley's decision to throw out the case against Qatar's aviation regulator, but the women can sue Qatar Airways and Matar. The case is now expected to move forward to trial.
