Forster v Minister for Immigration (No.2)

In *Forster v Minister for Immigration (No.2)*, the applicant, Mr. Forster, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration. The dispute concerned the Minister's refusal to grant Mr. Forster a visa, a decision Mr. Forster contended was unlawful. The matter was heard by Judge Street.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the Minister's decision to refuse the visa was vitiated by a failure to afford Mr. Forster procedural fairness. Specifically, the court was required to determine if Mr. Forster had been given adequate notice of the adverse information that the Minister intended to rely upon in refusing his visa application, and if he had been provided with a sufficient opportunity to respond to that information.

Judge Street reasoned that procedural fairness required the Minister to inform Mr. Forster of the specific adverse information that was likely to lead to the refusal of his visa application. This included details of the grounds upon which the Minister was considering refusing the visa and the evidence supporting those grounds. The court held that merely providing Mr. Forster with a copy of the relevant legislation or policy guidelines was insufficient. He needed to be apprised of the particular facts and circumstances that the Minister found objectionable. The principle applied was that a person facing a decision that could adversely affect their rights or interests must be given a fair opportunity to present their case, which necessitates knowledge of the case against them.

The court found that the Minister had failed to provide Mr. Forster with adequate notice of the adverse information. Consequently, the Minister's decision was set aside.