Plaintiff S322-2018 v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs & Ors

In the High Court of Australia, Justice Edelman considered an application for constitutional or other writs filed by a Sri Lankan citizen, identified as Plaintiff S322-2018. The plaintiff, an unauthorised maritime arrival who had previously had his Protection Visa application refused and subsequent appeals dismissed, sought to challenge the Department of Home Affairs' refusal to refer his requests for ministerial intervention under sections 417 and 48B of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) to the Minister. The defendants were the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, the Secretary for the Department of Home Affairs, and an officer of the Department.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the Minister's powers under sections 48B and 417 of the *Migration Act* could be delegated to departmental officers, whether the Department's assessment of the plaintiff's requests constituted an exercise of non-statutory executive power under section 61 of the Constitution, and whether the Department owed the plaintiff a duty of procedural fairness in its assessment of these requests. The plaintiff also contended that the Department failed to make inquiries according to law and procedural fairness.

Justice Edelman dismissed the application, applying principles established in numerous similar cases heard by the High Court. His Honour reasoned that the failure to refer a matter to the Minister did not involve a delegation of the Minister's power. Furthermore, the assessment of requests for ministerial intervention, as conducted by the Department, did not give rise to a sufficient basis for relief under section 61 of the Constitution, nor did it attract a duty of procedural fairness. Consequently, the application disclosed no arguable basis for the relief sought. The Court ordered the plaintiff to pay the defendants' costs.