AKU15 v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, AKU15, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration. The dispute concerned the Minister's refusal to grant AKU15 a protection visa. The matter was heard in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Minister's decision to refuse the protection visa was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the Court was required to consider whether the delegate of the Minister, in assessing AKU15's claims, had failed to properly consider relevant information or had applied the wrong legal test in relation to the assessment of risk of harm.

Judge Smith found that the delegate had made a jurisdictional error. The reasoning focused on the delegate's failure to adequately consider the evidence presented by AKU15 regarding the specific circumstances of persecution in their country of origin. The Court applied the principles established in *Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh* and subsequent cases, emphasizing the importance of a thorough and fair assessment of all relevant evidence when determining claims for protection visas. The delegate's assessment was found to be superficial and did not engage with the substance of AKU15's claims, thereby failing to meet the requirements of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

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