RH & JH

The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia, comprising Kay and Holden & Watts JJ, considered an appeal concerning the interpretation and application of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). The dispute arose from a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which had affirmed a decision to refuse a protection visa to the applicant, identified as RH & JH. The applicants sought judicial review of the AAT's decision.

The primary legal issues before the Full Court were whether the AAT had erred in law by failing to adequately consider certain aspects of the applicant's claims for protection, specifically in relation to the assessment of risk of persecution and the application of the complementary protection provisions. The Court was required to determine if the AAT had applied the correct legal tests when evaluating the evidence presented and whether its findings were supported by the material before it.

The Court reasoned that the AAT had made a jurisdictional error by failing to properly engage with the evidence concerning the applicant's fear of harm and the potential for harm to be inflicted by non-state actors. It was held that the AAT had misapplied the relevant legal principles by adopting an overly narrow approach to the assessment of risk and by not giving sufficient weight to the expert evidence presented. The Court emphasised the importance of a comprehensive and holistic assessment of protection claims, particularly under the complementary protection framework.

Consequently, the Full Court allowed the appeal, set aside the decision of the AAT, and remitted the matter to the AAT for redetermination according to law.