Hassan and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Migration)

This matter concerned an application for review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse a partner visa to Mr Obeid, a citizen of Lebanon. The refusal was based on the delegate's assessment that Mr Obeid did not satisfy the character test under section 501(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), specifically subsection 501(6)(c)(ii), due to his past and present general conduct. Ms Hassan, the visa applicant's sponsor and Australian citizen spouse, sought review of this decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Mr Obeid failed the character test. This required the Tribunal to consider his past and present general conduct, as well as any criminal conduct, in light of the principles outlined in Ministerial Direction No. 90. The Tribunal was also required to determine whether, if Mr Obeid did not pass the character test, the discretion to grant the visa should be exercised in his favour.

The Tribunal reasoned that for a person to be found not of good character, there must be a demonstration of continuing conduct showing a lack of enduring moral quality. While past and present criminal and general conduct can be indicia of a lack of good character, they do not in themselves answer the question. The Tribunal must look at the totality of the circumstances. In this case, although there were allegations of threats and an incident involving a weapon, no charges had been laid or proceeded to court. The Tribunal noted that the narrative of the incident was disputed by Mr Obeid, and that the complaints leading to police involvement had been withdrawn. Applying the principles from *Godley v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs* and other relevant authorities, the Tribunal concluded that Mr Obeid did not fail the character test.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision under review and directed that Mr Obeid passes the character test under section 501(6) of the Act. As Mr Obeid passed the character test, the discretion to refuse the visa on character grounds was not enlivened, and the partner visa should not have been refused on that basis.