1732064 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection concerning their application for a protection visa. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was asked to determine whether it had jurisdiction to hear the applicant's review.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant's application for review had been lodged within the prescribed period, thereby conferring jurisdiction on the Tribunal.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was received on 18 December 2017. As this date fell outside the statutory timeframe for lodging such an application, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of the applicant's case. The Tribunal applied the principle that strict adherence to statutory time limits is a prerequisite for the exercise of its jurisdiction.

Consequently, the Tribunal made no order on the merits of the application, as it had no jurisdiction to do so.