GNW18 v Minister for Home Affairs

The Federal Circuit Court heard an application by GNW18 and another applicant (the applicants) seeking judicial review of a decision made by the Minister for Home Affairs (the Minister) to refuse their application for a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa. The core of the dispute concerned adverse credibility findings made by the delegate of the Minister regarding the applicants' reasons for leaving Iran.

The legal issues before the Court were whether the delegate made jurisdictional error in their assessment of the applicants' claims. Specifically, the Court was required to determine if the delegate erroneously characterised the applicants' stated fears arising from a cross-religious marriage as a "later claim" when it had been articulated earlier in the protection visa process. Furthermore, the Court had to consider whether the adverse credibility findings made by the delegate, which led to the refusal of the visa, were based on a proper and accurate assessment of the evidence.

Judge Egan found that the delegate had indeed made jurisdictional error. The Court reasoned that the delegate wrongly described the applicants' fear of retaliation due to a Sayyid/non-Sayyid marriage as a "later claim," when evidence indicated this fear had been articulated in a statement dated 28 May 2014, predating other statements relied upon by the delegate. This mischaracterisation, coupled with the broad adverse credibility findings at paragraph [27] of the delegate's reasons, meant that the delegate had not properly considered the entirety of the applicants' evidence. The Court concluded that these erroneous findings could have altered the outcome of the exercise of the Minister's power.

Consequently, the Court quashed the decision of the Minister to refuse the Safe Haven Enterprise Visa.