Lodhawala v Minister for Immigration & Anor

The applicant, Lodhawala, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Migration Review Tribunal. The core of the dispute concerned whether the Tribunal had correctly identified the applicant's course of study for the purposes of regulation 1.40 of the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth). The applicant also contended that the Tribunal had made a finding based on no evidence. The matter was heard in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia before Judge Nicholls.

The Court was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether the Migration Review Tribunal erred in its identification of the applicant's course of study in relation to regulation 1.40 of the *Migration Regulations 1994*. Secondly, the Court had to consider whether the Tribunal's decision was vitiated by a finding made without any supporting evidence, which would constitute jurisdictional error.

Judge Nicholls found that the Tribunal had not made a jurisdictional error. The Court concluded that the Tribunal had correctly identified the applicant's course of study for the purposes of the relevant regulation and that its findings were not based on a lack of evidence. Consequently, the application for review was dismissed. The applicant was ordered to pay the first respondent's costs in the amount of $6646.00.