AJS18 v Minister for Home Affairs

In the Federal Court of Australia, the applicant, AJS18, challenged a decision of the Minister for Home Affairs to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant, who arrived in Australia by boat, claimed to fear persecution in their country of origin due to their membership of a particular social group. The Minister's delegate had refused the protection visa application, a decision later affirmed by the Minister on review.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the delegate's decision, and subsequently the Minister's review decision, had failed to properly consider the applicant's claims regarding their membership of a particular social group and the risks of persecution they faced. Specifically, the Court was asked to determine if the delegate had applied the correct legal test in assessing the applicant's claims and whether the evidence presented by the applicant had been adequately considered.

Judge Kendall found that the delegate had made an error of law by failing to properly assess the applicant's claims concerning their membership of a particular social group. The Court held that the delegate had not adequately engaged with the evidence provided by the applicant in support of their claim to be a member of a particular social group, nor had they properly applied the relevant legal principles for assessing such claims under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Consequently, the delegate's decision was found to be affected by jurisdictional error.

The Court ordered that the decision of the Minister for Home Affairs be set aside and remitted to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.