Lekala v Minister for Immigration

In *Lekala v Minister for Immigration*, the applicant, Mr Lekala, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration to refuse his application for a protection visa. The Minister's decision was based on the applicant's alleged failure to provide sufficient information to satisfy the Minister that he had a well-founded fear of persecution. The matter came before Judge F. Turner of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Minister's decision to refuse the protection visa was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the Court was required to determine if the Minister had failed to undertake the assessment required by s 48B of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) in relation to the applicant's claim for protection. This involved considering whether the Minister had properly considered the applicant's subjective fear and the objective country information relevant to his claims.

Judge Turner reasoned that the Minister's delegate had failed to properly consider the applicant's subjective fear of persecution, particularly in relation to his claims of past persecution and the risk of future persecution. The delegate had focused on the objective country information without adequately engaging with the specific details of the applicant's personal circumstances and the reasons for his fear. The Court applied the principles established in cases concerning the assessment of protection claims, emphasising the need for a holistic and individualised assessment of both subjective and objective elements of a protection claim. The delegate's failure to adequately consider the applicant's subjective fear constituted a jurisdictional error.

The Court ordered that the Minister's decision be set aside and remitted to the Minister for redetermination according to law.