AIZ15 v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, AIZ15, sought judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) concerning an application for a protection (Class XA) visa. The core of the dispute revolved around whether the RRT had complied with its statutory obligations, specifically section 424A of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), and whether it had constructively failed to exercise its jurisdiction.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the RRT erred by failing to have documents submitted by the applicant translated into English, and consequently, whether this failure amounted to a constructive failure to exercise its jurisdiction. The court was also required to consider a new ground raised by the applicant in submissions after the hearing had concluded, which had not been granted leave to be raised.

Justice Smith found that the RRT had not committed jurisdictional error. The court reasoned that section 424A did not mandate the translation of all documents into English, but rather required the RRT to consider the information available to it. The RRT had considered the documents in their original language and had not been prevented from doing so. Furthermore, the court noted that the applicant had not sought an adjournment or requested translation during the RRT process. The new ground raised post-hearing was also dismissed as it had not been properly introduced.

Consequently, the application for judicial review was dismissed.