DWM20 v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, DWM20, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The AAT had found that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the applicant's review application because it had been lodged outside the prescribed time limits. The applicant contended that the AAT had erred in law by failing to find that it had jurisdiction. The matter came before Judge Driver of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the AAT had made a jurisdictional error by concluding it lacked jurisdiction to hear the applicant's review application due to its late lodgement. This required the Court to determine if the applicant had been properly notified of the delegate's decision and whether the review application was indeed lodged late, thereby precluding the AAT from exercising its review powers.

Judge Driver found that the applicant had been properly notified of the delegate's decision. The Court accepted that the review application had been lodged after the statutory time limit had expired. Consequently, the AAT correctly determined that it did not have jurisdiction to entertain the application. There was no arguable case of jurisdictional error on the part of the Tribunal.

The application was dismissed. The applicant was ordered to pay the first respondent's costs and disbursements in the sum of $3,737.