Haque, In the matter of an application for leave to issue or file

An application was made to the High Court of Australia by AKM Azmerul Haque for leave to issue or file an application for a constitutional or other writ. This application followed a direction by the Registrar, pursuant to High Court Rules 2004 (Cth) r 6.07.2, to refuse to issue or file such an application without the leave of a Justice. This was the applicant's second such application concerning the same subject matter, following an earlier dismissal by Nettle J. The applicant, a citizen of Bangladesh, had a complex immigration history involving applications for an Employer Nomination visa and a protection visa, both of which had been rejected or withdrawn and subsequently affirmed by various tribunals and courts.

The legal issues before the court concerned whether the applicant should be granted leave to file a further application seeking a declaration and writs of certiorari and mandamus in relation to the refusal of his Employer Nomination visa, and an order under s 486A(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) to extend the time for challenging that decision. The court was required to consider the applicant's previous attempts to litigate this matter, including prior applications for leave to issue or file, and the reasons for their dismissal.

The court reasoned that the applicant's current attempt to relitigate a matter already disposed of by earlier proceedings in the High Court, from which leave to appeal had been refused, constituted an abuse of process. The court noted that Nettle J had previously dismissed a similar application, finding that there was no obligation on the Minister to consider a withdrawn visa application and that the proposed application would therefore fail. Given this history and the futility of granting leave to file an application that was bound to fail, the court dismissed the application for leave. The court ordered that leave to issue or file the proposed application be refused and that the application be dismissed.