CCW17 v Minister for Immigration and Anor

The applicant, CCW17, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to refuse to grant a protection visa. The dispute concerned whether the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution for a reason specified in the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The matter came before Judge Street of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the delegate of the Minister had erred in finding that the applicant had not established a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason. This required the Court to consider the evidence presented by the applicant and assess whether the delegate's adverse credibility findings were reasonably open on the material before them.

Judge Street found that the delegate's adverse credibility findings were not reasonably open on the material before them. The delegate had failed to adequately consider the applicant's evidence regarding past persecution and the potential for future persecution. The Court applied the principles established in *Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Khosravi* [2002] FCA 1200, which emphasise the importance of a thorough and balanced assessment of all available evidence when determining claims for protection visas. The Court concluded that the delegate's decision was affected by jurisdictional error.

The Court set aside the decision of the Minister and remitted the application for a protection visa to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.