SZKHI & Anor v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

In the case of SZKHI & Anor v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, the applicants, an Indian husband and wife, sought protection visas in Australia after arriving on 16 August 2006. The initial application was refused by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship on 27 September 2006, and subsequent review by the Refugee Review Tribunal and Turner FM were also dismissed. The applicants then appealed to the Federal Court, which was also dismissed by Stone J on 8 November 2007. The applicants sought special leave to appeal to the High Court, which was ultimately refused.

The legal issues before the court involved the applicants' claims that the husband had been pressured to sell property by a local Muslim businessman with political connections, and that he had been injured when he refused. The applicants also claimed that the businessman had shown interest in the wife and pressured her. The Tribunal and the courts below found that the harm feared was not serious and not for a Convention reason, and that relocation was a reasonable option. The applicants argued that the decisions below were incorrect, but the High Court found that the Tribunal's findings were open to it and there was no reason to doubt the correctness of the decisions.

The High Court found that the Tribunal's decision turned upon its view that the applicants' claims did not reveal a Convention-based fear of harm, a finding of fact which was open to the Tribunal. There was no question of law that would justify the grant of special leave to appeal. The Court noted that the applicants' complaints were directed to the merits of the Tribunal's decision, rather than any error of law. The High Court ultimately dismissed the application for special leave to appeal.