Amk16 v Assistant Minister for Immigration

The applicant, Amk16, sought constitutional writs in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia concerning a decision made by the Assistant Minister for Immigration under section 501CA of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The core dispute revolved around whether the Federal Circuit Court, and by extension the Federal Court, possessed the requisite jurisdiction to hear such applications.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the Federal Circuit Court had jurisdiction under section 476 of the *Migration Act* to entertain claims for constitutional writs in relation to decisions made by the Assistant Minister under section 501CA of the Act. Concurrently, the court considered whether the Federal Court had jurisdiction under section 476A of the Act for similar claims, and whether Parliament had inadvertently omitted to exclude these specific decisions from the Federal Circuit Court's jurisdiction under section 476.

The court determined that the Federal Circuit Court did have jurisdiction under section 476 of the *Migration Act* to hear applications for constitutional writs concerning decisions made under section 501CA. This conclusion was based on an interpretation of the legislative framework, which did not explicitly exclude such decisions from the Federal Circuit Court's purview. Consequently, an order was made to transfer the proceedings, as permitted by section 39(1) of the *Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act 1999* (Cth).