CZG16 v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, CZG16, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant, who arrived in Australia on 10 March 2016, claimed to be a citizen of Iran and alleged that he feared persecution if returned to Iran due to his membership in the Baha'i faith. The Minister's delegate had refused the protection visa application on 18 October 2019, finding that the applicant had not established a well-founded fear of persecution. The applicant subsequently applied for judicial review of this decision in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before Judge Manousaridis was whether the delegate's decision to refuse the protection visa was affected by jurisdictional error. This involved examining whether the delegate had properly considered all relevant evidence, including the applicant's claims of persecution based on his Baha'i faith, and whether the delegate's adverse credibility findings were reasonably open on the evidence. The court was also required to consider whether the delegate had applied the correct legal test for establishing a well-founded fear of persecution under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

Judge Manousaridis found that the delegate had made a jurisdictional error by failing to adequately assess the applicant's claims regarding the Baha'i faith and the potential for persecution in Iran. The delegate's adverse credibility findings were found to be based on an incomplete and selective review of the evidence, leading to an erroneous conclusion that the applicant's claims were not credible. The court applied the principles established in cases such as *Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh* and *Applicant A v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs*, emphasizing the importance of a thorough and balanced assessment of all evidence when determining claims of persecution.

The court ordered that the delegate's decision be set aside and remitted to the Minister for redetermination according to law.