1805238 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision by the Minister to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant's claim for protection was based on events that occurred in Malaysia. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was asked to determine whether it had jurisdiction to hear the applicant's appeal.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the application for review had been lodged within the time prescribed by the relevant legislation. Specifically, the Tribunal had to consider the statutory time limits for lodging an application for review with the AAT.

The Tribunal found that the application for review was received on 27 February 2018. 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 it can only exercise jurisdiction if the statutory requirements for its exercise are met.

Consequently, the Tribunal made no order in relation to the merits of the protection visa application, as it had no jurisdiction to do so.