Bza19 v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, Bza19, sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to refuse a protection visa. The application for judicial review was filed approximately fifteen years after the AAT's decision. The Minister for Immigration was the respondent. The matter came before Driver J in the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether to grant the applicant an extension of time to file the application for judicial review. This required the Court to consider the principles governing the exercise of discretion to extend time for filing such applications, particularly in circumstances where the delay is substantial.

Driver J refused the extension of time. His Honour applied the principles established in cases such as *Sydneian v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection* [2019] FCA 1000, which require a balancing of various factors. These factors include the length of the delay, the reasons for the delay, the merits of the proposed application, and the prejudice to the respondent. In this instance, the fifteen-year delay was considered exceptionally long, and the applicant failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the delay. Furthermore, the Court found that the merits of the proposed application were not sufficiently compelling to outweigh the significant delay and the prejudice to the respondent.

Consequently, the application for an extension of time was dismissed.