CMS18 v Minister for Home Affairs

CMS18 (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) to refuse their application for a Safe Haven Enterprise visa (subclass 790). The applicant alleged that the IAA had denied them procedural fairness and displayed bias in its assessment of their case.

The central legal issues before the Federal Court were whether the IAA had failed to afford the applicant procedural fairness and whether the IAA had exhibited bias. Specifically, the applicant contended that the IAA had asked a "wrong question" during its assessment, which they argued demonstrated bias and a failure to properly consider their claims.

Justice Kendall found that the question posed by the IAA, while perhaps not ideal, did not demonstrate actual bias or a failure to afford procedural fairness. The Court reasoned that the question was a legitimate attempt to elicit information relevant to the assessment of the applicant's claims and did not indicate a predetermined view or a closed mind on the part of the IAA. Consequently, the Court concluded that no jurisdictional error had occurred.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.