CCL18 v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

This matter concerned an application for judicial review of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The applicant, CCL18, sought to challenge the lawfulness of a decision to refuse a protection visa. The dispute centred on the adequacy of the material provided by the Department to the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) for the purposes of a fast track review.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Minister's decision was affected by jurisdictional error, specifically in relation to the requirements of section 473CB of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) concerning the review material to be provided to the IAA. The court was required to determine if the failure to provide certain information, as mandated by section 473CB, rendered the subsequent IAA decision invalid. A further issue was the interpretation of section 473DA of the Act, which states that Division 3 of Part 7AA is an exhaustive statement of the natural justice hearing rule in relation to IAA reviews.

Emmett J found that section 473CB of the Act sets out the mandatory material that must be provided to the IAA for a fast track review. The court held that the failure to provide the statement of findings of fact, the evidence on which those findings were based, and the reasons for the decision, as required by section 473CB(1)(a), constituted a failure to comply with a condition precedent to the exercise of the IAA's jurisdiction. This failure meant that the IAA did not have before it the material necessary to conduct a lawful review. Consequently, the purported decision of the IAA was affected by jurisdictional error and was therefore not a decision made under the Act. The court applied the principle that a privative clause decision is not protected if it is affected by jurisdictional error, citing *Plaintiff S157/2002 v Commonwealth*.

The court ordered that the decision of the Immigration Assessment Authority be quashed.