SZGPB v MIMA & Anor

The applicants, SZGPB and another, sought judicial review of decisions made by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (MIMA) and the second respondent. The dispute concerned the lawfulness of the Minister's decision to refuse to grant the applicants a protection visa. The matter was heard by the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Minister's decision to refuse the protection visa applications was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the court was required to consider whether the Minister had failed to exercise the power conferred by s 48B of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) in accordance with the law, and whether the Minister's delegate had failed to consider relevant considerations or taken into account irrelevant considerations when making the decision.

Gleeson CJ and Heydon J, in separate judgments, found that the Minister's delegate had made a jurisdictional error. Their Honours reasoned that the delegate had failed to properly consider the applicants' claims for protection, particularly in relation to the risk of persecution they faced. The court applied the principles of administrative law, including the requirement for decision-makers to consider all relevant matters and to not be influenced by irrelevant matters, when exercising statutory powers.

The High Court ordered that the applications for judicial review be upheld, and the decisions of the Minister and the delegate be quashed. The matter was remitted to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.