ACT15 v Minister for Immigration

ACT15 (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration (the respondent) to refuse to grant the applicant a protection visa. The applicant, who had arrived in Australia without a visa, claimed to fear persecution in their country of origin. The Minister's decision was made under s 48B of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which provides that a non-citizen who has entered Australia unlawfully and whose visa application has been refused cannot apply for a protection visa unless the Minister thinks it is in the public interest to allow the application to be made. The applicant contended that the Minister's decision to refuse to allow them to make a protection visa application was unlawful.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Minister's decision under s 48B of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the applicant argued that the Minister failed to consider relevant considerations and took into account irrelevant considerations when making the decision, thereby vitiating the lawfulness of the refusal. The applicant also raised arguments concerning the proper interpretation of "public interest" in the context of s 48B.

Judge Young found that the Minister's delegate had failed to properly consider the applicant's submissions regarding their fear of persecution, which were central to the assessment of whether it was in the public interest to allow the application to proceed. The delegate's reasons for decision did not adequately address the specific claims made by the applicant, indicating a failure to engage with the material before them. This failure to consider relevant material constituted a jurisdictional error. The court applied the principles of administrative law concerning the duty to afford procedural fairness and the requirement for decision-makers to genuinely consider all relevant information placed before them.

The court ordered that the Minister's decision be set aside and remitted to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.