EBT16 v Minister for Home Affairs

The applicant, EBT16, sought judicial review in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia of a decision made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The applicant required an extension of time to file their application for judicial review, which was refused by the Federal Circuit Court under section 477(2) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). Consequently, the Federal Circuit Court ordered that the application be dismissed.

The central legal issues before Gageler J were whether the Federal Circuit Court possessed the jurisdiction to dismiss the applicant's application for judicial review when an extension of time had been refused under section 477(2) of the *Migration Act*, and whether it was permissible for the Federal Circuit Court to assess the full merits of the application in such circumstances. The nature of the prohibition imposed by section 477(1) of the Act was also a key consideration.

Gageler J reasoned that section 477(1) of the *Migration Act* prohibits a court from exercising jurisdiction to review a decision if the application for review is filed outside the prescribed time limits, unless an extension of time is granted. The refusal of an extension of time under section 477(2) therefore meant that the court lacked the necessary jurisdiction to proceed with the judicial review application. His Honour concluded that the Federal Circuit Court did not err in dismissing the application, as it was not permissible to assess the full merits of an application over which it had no jurisdiction. The prohibition in section 477(1) was understood to operate as a jurisdictional bar.

The application was dismissed, and the plaintiff was ordered to pay the first defendant's costs.