ANL17 v Minister for Immigration & Anor

In the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, the applicant, ANL17, sought remedies under section 476 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) concerning a decision by the second respondent (the Authority) to affirm a delegate's refusal to grant the applicant a Safe Haven Enterprise visa. The core of the dispute revolved around whether the Authority had made a jurisdictional error in its review of the delegate's decision.

The court was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, it considered whether it was arguable that the Authority, when assessing whether exceptional circumstances justified considering new information, failed to consider whether that information, if known to the delegate, might have affected the assessment of the applicant's claims. Secondly, the court examined whether, given the elements of the applicant's protection claims, it was reasonably open to the Authority to conclude that the applicant did not face a real risk of serious harm. The court also addressed an application for leave to rely on two additional grounds of appeal, assessing their arguable merit.

His Honour Judge Manousaridis found that one of the two additional grounds of appeal was sufficiently arguable to warrant leave being granted. Regarding the substantive merits, the court considered it arguable that the Authority had made a jurisdictional error by failing to properly consider the potential impact of new information on the delegate's original assessment. However, the court concluded that it was reasonably open to the Authority to find that the applicant did not face a real risk of serious harm. Directions were subsequently made for the filing of further submissions on these matters.