SZNMG & Ors v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship & Anor

The applicants, SZNMG and others, sought judicial review of decisions made by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and a second respondent. The dispute concerned the lawfulness of the Minister's decision to refuse to revoke a protection visa cancellation.

The primary legal issue before Gummow J was whether the Minister's decision to refuse to revoke the cancellation of the applicants' protection visas was affected by an error of law. Specifically, the court was required to consider whether the Minister had failed to take into account relevant considerations or had taken into account irrelevant considerations when making that decision.

Gummow J reasoned that the Minister's power to revoke a protection visa cancellation under s 501(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) was a discretionary power. The exercise of this discretion required the Minister to consider all relevant factors, including the original grounds for cancellation and any new information or circumstances that had arisen. The court found that the Minister had failed to properly consider the applicants' submissions regarding their ongoing need for protection, which was a crucial factor in the assessment of whether to revoke the cancellation. This failure constituted an error of law, as it meant the Minister had not exercised the discretion conferred by the Act according to its terms.

The court ordered that the Minister's decision be set aside and remitted to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.