Abulkalam & Ors, Ex parte - Re Min for Immig (M129 & Ors) CHH

This matter concerned an application for an order of prohibition directed to the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, brought by Abulkalam and others. The applicants sought to prevent the Minister from making a decision under s 500(1) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) to refuse to grant them a protection visa. The application was heard by Hayne J in chambers.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Minister was required to afford the applicants procedural fairness before making a decision to refuse their protection visa applications. Specifically, the applicants contended that they had a legitimate expectation that the Minister would consider certain information they had provided, and that the Minister's failure to do so, or to provide them with an opportunity to respond to adverse information, would breach the rules of procedural fairness.

Hayne J considered the principles of procedural fairness as established in Australian administrative law. His Honour noted that while a person facing a decision that affects their rights or interests is generally entitled to procedural fairness, the content of that fairness depends on the circumstances. In this instance, the Court found that the Minister's decision-making power under s 500(1) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) was not one that attracted the full rigour of procedural fairness in the manner contended by the applicants. The Court held that the statutory scheme did not create a legitimate expectation that the Minister would engage in a detailed inquiry or provide an opportunity to respond to adverse information in the way that would be required in other administrative contexts.

The application for an order of prohibition was dismissed.