Applicant S1746 of 2003 v MIMIA

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) had affirmed a decision by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (MIMIA) to refuse the applicant's claim for a protection visa. The applicant, identified as S1746 of 2003, sought judicial review of the AAT's decision in the High Court of Australia. The core of the dispute concerned whether the AAT had erred in law in its assessment of the applicant's claims for protection.

The High Court was required to determine whether the AAT had failed to afford the applicant procedural fairness by not giving him adequate notice of the adverse information that was to be used against him in the assessment of his protection visa claim. Specifically, the court considered whether the AAT's reliance on certain information, which the applicant had not been given a proper opportunity to address, constituted a breach of the principles of natural justice.

In their joint judgment, Hayne and Callinan JJ found that the AAT had indeed erred in law. Their Honours held that the principles of procedural fairness require that a party be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to adverse material that is likely to influence the decision-maker. The AAT had failed to provide the applicant with sufficient notice of the specific adverse information it intended to rely upon, thereby denying him a fair hearing. The court concluded that the AAT's decision was vitiated by this error.

The High Court ordered that the appeal be allowed, the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal be set aside, and the matter be remitted to the AAT for redetermination according to law.