KHEIR v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, Mr Kher, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs to refuse to grant him a protection visa. The Minister's decision was based on the applicant's alleged failure to satisfy the criteria for a protection visa under s 36(2)(b)(i) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which requires a person to hold a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. The Federal Circuit Court of Australia was tasked with determining the lawfulness of the Minister's decision.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the delegate of the Minister had reasonably considered and assessed the evidence presented by the applicant regarding his claims of persecution. Specifically, the Court had to determine if the delegate's adverse credibility findings were supported by adequate reasoning and if the delegate had properly applied the relevant legal tests for assessing the credibility of the applicant's claims and the likelihood of future persecution.

Judge Burchardt found that the delegate's decision-making process contained jurisdictional error. The delegate failed to adequately explain the reasons for rejecting key aspects of the applicant's evidence, particularly concerning his alleged political opinions and the reasons for his departure from his country of origin. The Court held that a failure to provide a sufficiently detailed and reasoned assessment of the evidence, especially when adverse credibility findings are made, amounts to a failure to exercise the power conferred by the Act, thereby constituting jurisdictional error. The Court quashed the delegate's decision.