Qi Y Ling and Bing Y Lin v Anil Beri

Qi Y Ling and Bing Y Lin sought to appeal a decision made by the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The applicants were Chinese nationals who had applied for a visa under the temporary skilled migration program but were refused by the Tribunal. They sought to challenge the Tribunal’s decision on various grounds, including alleged errors of law and procedural unfairness.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction to hear the applicants’ appeal, and if not, whether the court could exercise its inherent jurisdiction to review the Tribunal’s decision. The applicants argued that the Tribunal had acted beyond its jurisdiction by making findings of fact without sufficient evidence and without giving them an opportunity to respond.

The court found that the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to hear the applicants’ appeal. It held that the Tribunal’s decision was not subject to judicial review as it did not involve an error of law or a jurisdictional error. The court emphasised that the Tribunal’s decision was based on the evidence before it and that the applicants had not demonstrated any error of law or procedural unfairness that would warrant judicial intervention. The court concluded that the application should be dismissed as the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim.