DZQ16 v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, DZQ16, sought judicial review of a decision by the Immigration Assessment Authority (Authority) which affirmed a delegate's decision to refuse the applicant a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa. The core of the dispute concerned whether the Authority had properly considered the evidence presented by the applicant, specifically a letter referred to as the SRFO Letter, and whether it had interpreted section 473DD(a) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) too narrowly.

The court was required to determine if the Authority had committed a jurisdictional error by failing to consider the SRFO Letter, and if so, whether this failure amounted to a failure to conduct a review in accordance with the Act. This involved assessing whether the SRFO Letter constituted substantial and consequential material that the Authority ought to have considered in its review process.

In reaching its decision, the court applied principles established in *Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Bhardwaj* and *SZRKT*. The court reasoned that the Authority's overlooking or failure to consider the SRFO Letter constituted a jurisdictional error. The court found that had the Authority considered the SRFO Letter, it might have accepted its authenticity and the truth of its contents. This, in turn, could have led the Authority to give credit to the applicant's claims of persecution, as the letter could support an inference that the Sri Lankan authorities had an ongoing interest in the applicant due to a suspicion of links to the LTTE, and that this interest manifested in the interrogations and beatings described by the applicant.

The court ordered that the Authority's decision of 18 November 2016 be quashed, and that the Authority review the delegate's decision according to law.