Fairy v Minister for Immigration & Anor (No.2)

In *Fairy v Minister for Immigration & Anor (No.2)*, the applicant, Mr. Fairy, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration. The dispute concerned the Minister's decision to refuse to grant Mr. Fairy a visa. The matter was heard by Judge Manousaridis in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Minister's decision to refuse the visa was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the Court was required to determine if the delegate of the Minister, in assessing Mr. Fairy's application, had failed to consider relevant considerations or had taken into account irrelevant considerations, thereby vitiating the decision-making process.

Judge Manousaridis reasoned that the delegate's assessment had indeed been flawed. The delegate had failed to properly consider the evidence provided by Mr. Fairy regarding his genuine and subsisting relationship with his partner, which was a crucial factor in the visa application. The Court applied the principles of administrative law, emphasizing that a decision-maker must genuinely consider all relevant material placed before them. The failure to do so amounted to a jurisdictional error.

Consequently, the Court found that the Minister's decision was invalid. The Court ordered that the decision be set aside and remitted to the Minister for redetermination according to law.