NTOKOS v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, NTOKOS, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration to refuse to grant a protection visa. The Minister's decision was based on the applicant's alleged failure to satisfy the criteria for a protection visa under s 36(2)(b)(i) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), which requires a person to hold a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. The matter came before Judge Mercuri in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the applicant had established a well-founded fear of persecution for one of the prescribed reasons. This required the Court to assess the applicant's subjective fear and the objective reasonableness of that fear, considering the evidence presented and the country information relevant to the applicant's claimed country of origin. The Court also had to determine if the Minister's delegate had properly considered all relevant evidence and applied the correct legal principles in reaching the decision.

Judge Mercuri found that the delegate had failed to adequately assess the applicant's subjective fear and had not given sufficient weight to the applicant's personal circumstances and the evidence provided. The Court determined that the delegate's assessment of the objective reasonableness of the fear was also flawed, as it did not properly engage with the available country information in relation to the specific circumstances described by the applicant. Consequently, the Court concluded that the decision under review was affected by jurisdictional error.

The Court ordered that the decision of the Minister for Immigration to refuse the protection visa be set aside and remitted to the Minister for redetermination according to law.