JSMJ v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

The applicant, JSMJ, sought judicial review of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs' decision not to revoke the mandatory cancellation of his Class XB Subclass 200 Refugee visa. The applicant did not pass the character test due to his criminal offending. The central dispute concerned whether there was "another reason" to revoke the mandatory cancellation decision, as required by the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The court was required to determine whether the applicant's circumstances constituted "another reason" to revoke the mandatory cancellation of his visa. This involved considering the weight to be given to various factors under Ministerial Direction No. 90, particularly the protection of the Australian community, the applicant's ties to Australia, and Australia's international non-refoulement obligations, especially in relation to Burundi. The court also had to consider the nature and seriousness of the applicant's offending, including a trend of increasing seriousness and the cumulative effect of repeated offending.

The court reasoned that the applicant's criminal conduct, which included numerous assaults, dishonesty offences, contraventions of domestic violence orders, and obstructing police, was frequent and showed a trend of increasing seriousness, culminating in a serious assault on Mr J. This conduct weighed heavily against revocation under the primary consideration of protecting the Australian community. While the court acknowledged the applicant's ties to Australia and the potential impact of his removal on his family, these factors were outweighed by the seriousness of his offending and the risk he posed to the community. The court also considered Australia's non-refoulement obligations but found they did not compel revocation in this instance.

Ultimately, the court found that it could not exercise the discretion under s 501CA(4) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) to revoke the cancellation of the applicant's visa. The decision under review was affirmed.