Molla and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by Mr Molla, a citizen of Albania and the United Kingdom. The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs refused Mr Molla's application under section 24(6)(a) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth) due to pending criminal charges. Mr Molla sought review of this decision before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), which affirmed the refusal. Mr Molla then sought judicial review in the Federal Court, which, by consent, quashed the AAT's decision due to jurisdictional error, leading to the current proceeding before the AAT.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had the discretion to adjourn Mr Molla's citizenship application until his pending criminal charges were resolved, or if the prohibition against granting citizenship under section 24(6)(a) of the Act was absolute while charges remained undecided. Mr Molla contended that the matter should be adjourned pursuant to section 40(1)(c) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth), arguing that the refusal constituted a pre-emptive finding of guilt and that the outcome of the criminal proceedings was uncertain.

The Tribunal reasoned that the word "pending" meant remaining undecided, and that Mr Molla's criminal charges, scheduled for a contested trial, were indeed pending. It held that section 24(6)(a) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* unequivocally prohibited the granting of citizenship at such a time, and that the Tribunal had no discretion to waive this prohibition. The Tribunal found that adjourning the application on the speculative premise that the prohibition might be overcome by future events would require it to proceed in other than its ordinary course, which was inappropriate and contrary to the public interest in the finality of administrative decision-making. The Tribunal noted that there was no statutory provision or case law supporting an indefinite adjournment or a "wait-and-see" approach in such circumstances.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the reviewable decision to refuse Mr Molla's citizenship application. The Tribunal noted that Mr Molla would not be precluded from lodging a new application once his criminal charges were decided, and that such an application would be assessed based on his circumstances at that future time.