Sandhu v Minister for Immigration

In *Sandhu v Minister for Immigration*, the applicant, Mr Sandhu, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration to refuse his application for a protection visa. The dispute centred on whether Mr Sandhu had established a well-founded fear of persecution for a reason specified in the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the delegate of the Minister had erred in their assessment of Mr Sandhu's claims, particularly concerning the credibility of his account and the likelihood of him facing harm if returned to his country of origin. The court was required to determine if the delegate's findings were supported by the evidence and whether the correct legal principles had been applied in assessing the risk of persecution.

Judge McGuire found that the delegate had failed to adequately consider certain aspects of Mr Sandhu's evidence and had made findings that were not reasonably open on the material before them. The court applied the principles of administrative law, including the requirement for a decision-maker to undertake a proper and logical assessment of the evidence and to provide adequate reasons for their findings. The judge concluded that the decision was affected by jurisdictional error.

The court set aside the decision of the Minister and remitted the application for a protection visa to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.