Farah v Minister for Immigration

In the Federal Magistrates Court, the case of Farah v Minister for Immigration & Citizenship, [2010] FMCA 801, involved an application for review of the decision of the Migration Review Tribunal. The Tribunal had affirmed the decision of a delegate of the Minister to cancel the subclass 116 Carer visa of Mr Farah, and found it did not have jurisdiction to review the consequential cancellation of the visas of the other applicants, namely Mrs Farah and their three children. The applicants contended the Tribunal's decision was flawed, and that the Tribunal had failed to substantiate its decision, had not based its decision on probative evidence, and had misapplied the law. The Court dismissed the application, finding that the Tribunal had properly considered the evidence, and that there had been no jurisdictional error in the Tribunal's decision. The Court found that while the Tribunal may have confused the concepts of its jurisdiction and the "consequential visa cancellation under s.140(1)", it did not affect the outcome of the review as it related to Mr Farah, and that even if it did, it would serve no utility to return the matter to the Tribunal. The application was dismissed, and the first and second named applicants were ordered to pay the first respondent's costs.