Mahamede v Minister for Home Affairs & Anor

The plaintiff, an Iranian national who arrived in Australia in 2013 and was subsequently transferred to Nauru, sought various forms of relief in the High Court of Australia against the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. The plaintiff, who had been assaulted in Nauru in 2018 and transferred to Australia in October 2019 for medical treatment, was being held in immigration detention as an unlawful non-citizen. He alleged that his continued detention, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and inadequate social distancing, was causing him severe mental and physical harm and constituted a breach of the duty of care owed to him by the defendants.

The legal issues before the Court included whether the plaintiff was entitled to a writ of habeas corpus for his release from immigration detention, whether declarations and injunctions should be granted restraining the Minister from breaching a statutory or common law duty of care by holding him in indefinite custody causing him severe harm or placing him at risk of self-harm, and whether it was in the public interest for the Minister to consider exercising the power under s 197AB of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) to make a residence determination allowing him to reside in the community. The defendants contended that the plaintiff's application lacked any arguable basis for the relief sought and should be dismissed under rule 25.09.1 of the High Court Rules 2004 (Cth), or alternatively, remitted to the Federal Circuit Court.

The Court dismissed the plaintiff's application, finding that it did not disclose any arguable basis for any of the relief sought. This decision was made pursuant to rule 25.09.1 of the High Court Rules 2004 (Cth), with the Court's reasoning being consistent with its decisions in related cases heard concurrently. The plaintiff was ordered to pay the costs of the defendants.