BAS15 v Minister for Immigration

BAS15 (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration (the respondent) to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant, who had arrived in Australia by boat, claimed to fear persecution in their country of origin due to their membership of a particular social group. The matter came before Judge Antoni Lucev in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution for a reason specified in section 5H of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), specifically membership of a particular social group. This required the Court to assess the applicant's claims regarding the nature of the persecution they feared and whether it was linked to a characteristic that defined them as a particular social group in a way recognised by international refugee law.

Judge Lucev considered the evidence presented by the applicant and the respondent's submissions. The Court applied the principles established in relevant case law concerning the assessment of claims for protection visas, including the evidential burden on the applicant to establish their claims and the standard of proof required. The Court analysed the applicant's asserted membership of a particular social group, considering whether it met the criteria of being a group with an innate characteristic, a shared past, or a fundamental attribute that could not be changed, and whether the feared harm was linked to that membership. The Court found that the applicant had not discharged the onus of proving that they held a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.