Malhi v Minister for Immigration

In *Malhi v Minister for Immigration*, the applicant, Mr Malhi, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration to refuse his application for a protection visa. The dispute centred on whether the Minister had adequately considered the applicant's claims of persecution in his home country. The matter was heard in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the delegate of the Minister had failed to take into account relevant considerations and taken into account irrelevant considerations when assessing Mr Malhi's protection visa application. Specifically, the court was asked to determine if the delegate had properly considered the evidence of past persecution and the risk of future persecution, and whether the delegate had applied the correct legal test for assessing claims of persecution under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and relevant international conventions.

Judge Jones found that the delegate had failed to adequately consider crucial aspects of Mr Malhi's evidence regarding past persecution, including specific incidents and their potential impact. The court reasoned that a failure to give proper weight to such evidence amounted to a failure to take into account relevant considerations. Furthermore, the court determined that the delegate had applied an incorrect standard when assessing the risk of future persecution, thereby failing to properly consider the applicant's claims in accordance with the law. The court concluded that the decision under review was vitiated by jurisdictional error.

The court ordered that the decision of the Minister be set aside and remitted to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.