Davis v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs & Ors

The applicant, Mr Davis, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse to grant him a protection visa. The dispute concerned the Minister's assessment of whether Mr Davis would be a person to whom Australia had protection obligations under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The matter was heard by Gageler and Steward JJ of the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Minister, in assessing Mr Davis's claim for a protection visa, had failed to consider relevant considerations or taken into account irrelevant considerations, thereby vitiating the decision. Specifically, the court was required to determine if the Minister's assessment of the risk of harm to Mr Davis in his country of origin, and the extent to which that risk was a real chance, had been conducted in accordance with the law.

The High Court reasoned that the Minister's assessment of the risk of harm must be based on a proper understanding of the evidence and the relevant legal criteria. Their Honours applied the principles of administrative law, particularly the requirement for a decision-maker to undertake a rational assessment of the evidence and to avoid errors of law in the application of statutory criteria. The court found that the Minister's delegate had made an error of law by failing to properly consider the evidence regarding the risk of harm Mr Davis faced, and by applying an incorrect standard in assessing the likelihood of that harm occurring. This failure meant the delegate had not undertaken the assessment required by the *Migration Act*.

Consequently, the High Court quashed the decision of the Minister to refuse the protection visa and remitted the application to the Minister for redetermination according to law.