Hussain Hazara and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Citizenship)

The applicant, Hussain Hazara, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to refuse his application for Australian citizenship. The dispute concerned the Minister's assessment of Mr Hazara's character under section 24 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) and the application of the 'ordinary residence' requirement under section 21(2)(c) of the Act. The matter was heard by Deputy S A Forgie P in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the Minister's decision to refuse citizenship on character grounds was vitiated by jurisdictional error, and whether the applicant met the ordinary residence requirement at the time of his application. Specifically, the Court was asked to consider whether the Minister had properly applied the character provisions, including the assessment of past conduct and the potential for rehabilitation, and whether the applicant's periods of absence from Australia affected his ordinary residence.

Deputy S A Forgie P found that the Minister's delegate had made a jurisdictional error in assessing the applicant's character. The delegate had failed to adequately consider the applicant's evidence of rehabilitation and had placed undue weight on past offending without a proper balancing exercise. Furthermore, the Court determined that the applicant had satisfied the ordinary residence requirement, as his absences from Australia were temporary and did not disrupt the continuity of his ordinary residence. Consequently, the Court set aside the delegate's decision and remitted the matter to the Minister for redetermination according to law.