Singh v Minister for Home Affairs

Singh (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) in the Federal Court of Australia. The AAT had found that it lacked jurisdiction to consider Mr. Singh's application for review because the application was lodged outside the prescribed time limit. Mr. Singh contended that the AAT had made a jurisdictional error in dismissing his application.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the AAT had erred in law by determining it lacked jurisdiction. This required the Court to consider whether the AAT's finding that the review application was out of time was a jurisdictional error, or whether there was any other basis upon which the AAT's decision could be characterised as a jurisdictional error.

Driver J found that the AAT's determination of its own jurisdiction, based on the untimeliness of the application, was not a jurisdictional error. The Court reasoned that the AAT was entitled to consider the timeliness of the application as a threshold issue going to its jurisdiction. The applicant had not demonstrated any arguable case that the AAT had made a jurisdictional error in reaching its conclusion.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.