CTV16 v Minister for Immigration

The applicants, CTV16 and another, sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to refuse their applications for protection visas. The applicants claimed they feared harm in Fiji. This matter had previously been remitted to the Tribunal for a rehearing.

The central legal issue before the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia was whether the Tribunal had breached section 425 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) during the rehearing. Specifically, the court considered whether the Tribunal had failed to afford the second applicant a reasonable opportunity to give evidence.

Judge Driver found that the second applicant had attended the rehearing and was sworn in to give evidence. However, she was not asked any questions by the Tribunal. The Tribunal had rejected her evidence from the first hearing on credibility grounds. The court held that by failing to ask the second applicant any questions, the Tribunal had not afforded her a reasonable opportunity to give evidence as required by section 425 of the *Migration Act*.

Consequently, the court found that a breach of section 425 had been established. The decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was set aside.