Fzu18 v Minister for Home Affairs

Fzu18 (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Home Affairs (the respondent) to refuse a protection visa. The applicant, who claimed to fear harm in Bangladesh, had their application for a protection visa refused by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The applicant subsequently made a "show cause" application to the respondent, which was dismissed. The applicant then brought proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia seeking to challenge the respondent's decision to dismiss the show cause application.

The central legal issue before Driver J was whether the applicant had an arguable case of jurisdictional error in relation to the respondent's decision to dismiss the show cause application. The applicant contended that the respondent had failed to properly consider their submissions in the show cause process, thereby committing a jurisdictional error.

Driver J found that the applicant had not established an arguable case of jurisdictional error. The court reasoned that the respondent's decision to dismiss the show cause application was based on the AAT's adverse findings of fact regarding the applicant's claims of fear of harm. The respondent was entitled to rely on these findings, and the applicant had not demonstrated that the respondent failed to consider relevant material or acted in a way that vitiated the lawfulness of the decision. The court concluded that the applicant's application lacked substance and was unlikely to succeed.

Accordingly, Driver J made an order dismissing the applicant's application for judicial review.