Minister for Immigration v BAKKER

The Federal Court of Australia, constituted by Justice Whelan, considered the application for judicial review brought by the Minister for Immigration against Mr. Bakker. The core of the dispute concerned the lawfulness of a decision made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to set aside a decision of the Minister to refuse Mr. Bakker’s visa application and substitute a decision to grant the visa. The Minister contended that the AAT had erred in law by failing to consider a crucial piece of evidence, specifically a letter from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) dated 10 March 2017, which the Minister argued was material to the assessment of Mr. Bakker's character.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the AAT had failed to take into account a relevant consideration, thereby committing an error of law. This involved determining whether the AFP letter was a "relevant consideration" that the AAT was bound to consider in its review of the Minister's decision, and if so, whether its omission amounted to a jurisdictional error. The Minister argued that the AAT's failure to engage with the contents of the AFP letter meant its decision was vitiated by an error of law, as it had not properly considered all the evidence before it.

Justice Whelan reasoned that the AAT's duty was to conduct a fresh review of the decision under review, considering all relevant evidence. The AFP letter, being a document that formed part of the material before the original decision-maker and was available to the AAT, was a relevant consideration. The Court found that the AAT's decision record did not demonstrate any engagement with the contents of the AFP letter, nor did it provide any explanation for why it was not considered. Consequently, the AAT had failed to take into account a relevant consideration, constituting an error of law. The Court ordered that the AAT's decision be set aside and remitted to the AAT for redetermination according to law.