AS v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Ruling No 4)

The case involves a plaintiff who is a former detainee of the Christmas Island Detention Centre, challenging the decision of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. The plaintiff sought to amend their Statement of Claim to include a claim for judicial review of the Minister’s decision. The Federal Court of Australia was tasked with determining whether the amendment was permissible.

The legal issues before the court included whether the plaintiff's proposed amendments to the Statement of Claim were allowable and whether the statutory duty under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) precluded the court from entertaining a claim for judicial review of the Minister's decision. The court had to consider the interplay between the Migration Act, the Federal Court’s procedural rules, and the principles of administrative law.

The court found that the proposed amendments to the Statement of Claim were not permissible because they sought to challenge the Minister’s decision, which is protected by statutory immunity. The court emphasised that the Migration Act confers a statutory duty on the Minister to make certain decisions, and such decisions are immune from judicial review. The court also noted that the Federal Court Rules do not permit amendments that seek to challenge the statutory duty of the Minister. Consequently, the court ruled that the plaintiff's claim was misconceived and struck out the relevant parts of the Statement of Claim.

The court's decision underscored the limited scope of judicial review in the context of migration decisions made by the Minister. The final orders of the court were that the plaintiff’s application to amend the Statement of Claim was dismissed, and the relevant parts of the claim were struck out.