Al-Ahmed and Minister for Home Affairs (Citizenship)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application for review by Mr Al-Ahmed concerning the refusal of his Australian citizenship application by the Minister for Home Affairs. Mr Al-Ahmed, a permanent resident, had applied for citizenship by conferral in 2017. Subsequently, he was charged with offences relating to stolen goods and dealing with proceeds of crime. The Minister refused his citizenship application due to these pending criminal proceedings. Mr Al-Ahmed sought review of this decision, and the Minister subsequently applied to the Tribunal to dismiss the review application on the basis that it had no reasonable prospect of success.

The Tribunal was required to determine two principal issues: first, whether it possessed the power to adjourn Mr Al-Ahmed’s review application until his criminal proceedings were finalised; and second, if not, whether the review application should be dismissed for having no reasonable prospect of success, as argued by the Minister.

In its reasoning, the Tribunal considered the relevant provisions of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (AAT Act) regarding its power to dismiss applications. It also examined case law, including *Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Hassani*, which addressed the interaction between general adjournment powers and specific legislative provisions. The Tribunal concluded that the current Citizenship Act does not contain a power to defer consideration of an application in the same way as the previous Act considered in *Hassani*. Furthermore, the Tribunal found that a pending criminal charge does not necessarily provide grounds for adjournment, particularly as the applicant is not compelled to compromise their right to silence. The Tribunal determined that the existence of pending criminal proceedings, under section 24(6) of the Citizenship Act, meant that a certificate of Australian citizenship could not be granted. Therefore, the Tribunal was satisfied that Mr Al-Ahmed's review application had no reasonable prospect of success.

The Tribunal dismissed Mr Al-Ahmed's application for review pursuant to section 42B(1)(b) of the AAT Act. The Tribunal noted that Mr Al-Ahmed may make a new application for citizenship after the outcome of his pending criminal proceedings is known.