Awad and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application by Mr Awad for Australian citizenship by conferral, which was dismissed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). Mr Awad sought judicial review of the AAT's decision in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the AAT had erred in law by dismissing Mr Awad's application for citizenship on the basis that he had no reasonable prospect of success, given the existence of outstanding criminal charges against him.

The Court considered the relevant provisions of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) and the *Australian Citizenship Regulations 2016* (Cth), particularly those relating to the character requirements for citizenship by conferral. The Court found that the AAT had correctly applied the law in determining that the outstanding criminal charges meant Mr Awad could not satisfy the character test, and therefore had no reasonable prospect of success in his application. The Member of the AAT was satisfied that the evidence before it demonstrated that Mr Awad did not meet the character requirements for citizenship.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.