Ali v Minister for Immigration

In *Ali v Minister for Immigration*, the applicant sought the reinstatement of a prior application to reinstate a dismissed substantive proceeding. Both the substantive proceeding and the first reinstatement application had been dismissed by the Federal Circuit Court of Australia under rule 13.03C(1)(c) of the *Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001* (Cth) due to the applicant's non-appearance.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether it possessed the power to grant a second application for reinstatement of an application that had itself been dismissed for non-appearance. This required the Court to consider the scope of its inherent jurisdiction and the application of rule 13.03C(1)(c) in circumstances where a party seeks to revive a dismissed reinstatement application.

Judge Barnes reasoned that the Court's inherent jurisdiction to set aside its own orders, including those made under rule 13.03C(1)(c), was not extinguished by the dismissal of the first reinstatement application. The Court held that the power to reinstate was not exhausted by a single exercise and that the applicant was entitled to seek a second reinstatement, provided the grounds for doing so were established. The Court applied the principle that inherent jurisdiction is a broad power to ensure the proper administration of justice and to prevent abuses of process.

The Court ordered that the second reinstatement application be granted, and the first reinstatement application be reinstated to the list for hearing.