Manaf & Ors v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship & Anor

The applicants, Manaf and others, sought judicial review of decisions made by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and the second respondent, concerning their claims for protection visas. The dispute centred on the lawfulness of the Minister's delegate's assessment of the applicants' claims, particularly in relation to the assessment of their subjective fears and the objective reasonableness of those fears. The matter came before the High Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the delegate of the Minister had erred in law by failing to adequately consider the applicants' subjective claims of fear and by failing to properly assess the objective reasonableness of those fears in accordance with the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and relevant international conventions. Specifically, the court was asked to determine if the delegate had applied the correct legal test when evaluating the credibility of the applicants' evidence and when assessing whether there was a real chance of persecution.

French CJ and Kiefel J held that the delegate had made an error of law. Their Honours explained that the assessment of a protection visa claim requires a two-stage process: first, determining the subjective claims of the applicant, and second, assessing the objective reasonableness of those claims. They found that the delegate had impermissibly conflated these two stages, effectively requiring the applicants to prove their claims objectively before their subjective fears could be fully considered. This approach was inconsistent with the established legal principles for assessing claims under the *Migration Act* and the Refugee Convention, which require a holistic and balanced consideration of all available evidence.

The High Court ordered that the applications for judicial review be upheld, and the decisions of the delegate be set aside. The matter was remitted to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship for redetermination according to law.