Masih and El Saeid (No 2)

Masih and El Saeid (No 2) concerned a dispute between the applicants, Masih and El Saeid, and the respondent, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. The applicants sought judicial review of the Minister's decision to refuse to grant them a protection visa.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Minister's decision was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the Court was required to determine if the Minister had failed to consider relevant considerations or had taken into account irrelevant considerations when assessing the applicants' claims for protection, thereby vitiating the decision-making process.

Loughnan J found that the Minister had indeed committed jurisdictional error. The Court reasoned that the delegate of the Minister had failed to adequately consider the applicants' claims regarding their fear of persecution based on their membership of a particular social group, which was a central element of their protection claims. This failure to properly engage with and assess a material aspect of the applicants' case meant that the decision was not made according to law.

Consequently, Loughnan J quashed the Minister's decision and remitted the matter to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.