SZIRO & Ors v MIAC & Anor

The applicants, SZIRO and others, sought judicial review of decisions made by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (MIAC) and the second respondent, the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA). The dispute concerned the refusal to grant registration as a migration agent to the applicants.

The primary legal issue before the Full Federal Court was whether the Minister's delegate had erred in law by failing to consider relevant considerations and by taking into account irrelevant considerations when assessing the applicants' suitability for registration under the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and the *Migration Agents Regulations 1998* (Cth). Specifically, the court had to determine if the delegate's adverse findings regarding the applicants' honesty and integrity, based on past conduct, were lawfully made and properly applied to the registration criteria.

The court reasoned that the delegate's assessment of the applicants' honesty and integrity was a crucial element in determining their suitability for registration. It was held that the delegate was entitled to consider past conduct as evidence of present character, provided that such consideration was relevant to the criteria for registration. The court found that the delegate had properly considered the applicants' past actions and their implications for their fitness to act as migration agents, and that the delegate's conclusions were open on the evidence. The court affirmed that the delegate's decision was not vitiated by any error of law.

The applications for judicial review were dismissed.