Naqvi v Minister for Immigration

In *Naqvi v Minister for Immigration*, Driver J of the Federal Court of Australia considered an application for judicial review concerning the Minister's decision to refuse to grant the applicant a protection visa. The applicant, Mr Naqvi, sought to challenge the lawfulness of the delegate's decision to refuse his protection visa application.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the delegate's decision to refuse the protection visa application was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the Court was required to determine if the delegate had failed to undertake a proper assessment of the applicant's claims for protection, thereby failing to exercise the power conferred upon them by the relevant legislation.

Driver J found that the delegate's assessment of Mr Naqvi's claims was inadequate. The delegate had failed to properly consider and engage with significant aspects of the applicant's evidence and submissions, particularly those relating to his fear of persecution. This failure meant that the delegate had not undertaken the comprehensive assessment required by the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and the *Migration Regulations 1994* (Cth) when determining a claim for a protection visa. Consequently, the delegate's decision was vitiated by jurisdictional error.

The Court ordered that the decision of the delegate be set aside and remitted to the Minister for redetermination according to law.