Capello, Aldo v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs

The case involved Aldo Capello, an Italian national, who was the applicant, and the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, who was the respondent. The dispute pertained to the Minister's decision to deport Capello from Australia. The matter was brought before the Federal Court of Australia. The applicant sought to stay the deportation proceedings under section 15 of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977, arguing that the Minister's decision was unlawful.

The legal issues before the court were twofold. Firstly, the court had to determine whether the rules of natural justice were applicable to the Minister's decision to deport Capello. Secondly, the court had to decide if Capello had made out an arguable case for judicial review. Capello's counsel argued that the decision to deport him was based on material that was not disclosed to him, and that this constituted a breach of the rules of natural justice. The Minister contended that the rules of natural justice did not apply in this context, and that Capello had not established an arguable case for review.

The court held that the rules of natural justice did not apply to the Minister's decision to deport Capello, as it was not a decision that affected his legal rights or interests in a significant way. The court found that the decision to deport was a discretionary one, and that Capello had not demonstrated that he had a legitimate expectation of being heard before the decision was made. Furthermore, the court held that Capello had not made out an arguable case for judicial review, as he had not shown that the Minister's decision was based on an error of law or was otherwise unlawful. The court dismissed Capello's application for a stay of proceedings, and ordered that he pay the Minister's costs of the application. The court also granted liberty to either party to fix a date for a directions hearing on seven days notice to the other party.