Ayoub v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

Mr Ayoub, a Lebanese national, applied to the Federal Court for judicial review of the decision of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to cancel his spouse visa on the basis that he had not satisfied the character test. The Minister decided to cancel the visa on the basis that Mr Ayoub had not satisfied the character test, as he had been convicted of various offences, including unlawfully detaining Raymond Zhang without his consent for financial gain, for which he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. Mr Ayoub argued that the Minister was required to consider the non-refoulement principle, which prevents a state from returning a person to a country where they would be subjected to serious harm, and that he might be exposed to such harm if returned to Lebanon. The Minister argued that he was not required to consider such matters as Mr Ayoub was not a refugee and had not applied for a protection visa.

The court considered whether the Minister was required to consider non-refoulement and whether Mr Ayoub was exposed to the risk of indefinite detention if his visa was cancelled. The court found that there was nothing before the Minister to suggest that Mr Ayoub was a refugee or that Australia would be acting inconsistently with its obligations under Article 33 of the Convention if it were to return Mr Ayoub to Lebanon. The court also found that there was nothing before the Minister to suggest that a consequence of cancelling Mr Ayoub’s spouse visa was that he would be exposed to the risk of indefinite detention.

The court held that the Minister was not required to consider non-refoulement and that Mr Ayoub was not exposed to the risk of indefinite detention if his visa was cancelled. The court also found that paragraph [48] of the Minister’s reasons was “slightly unhappily” expressed but that nothing turned on this.

The application was dismissed, and Mr Ayoub was ordered to pay the respondent’s costs.