SZSPO v Minister for Immigration

In the Federal Court of Australia, Justice Barnes heard the matter of SZSPO (the applicant) against the Minister for Immigration (the respondent). The applicant sought judicial review of a decision made by the respondent, which affirmed a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to refuse the applicant’s protection visa application. The applicant alleged that the AAT’s decision was affected by jurisdictional error.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the AAT had made a jurisdictional error in its assessment of the applicant's claims for protection. Specifically, the Court was required to determine if the AAT had failed to adequately consider or properly assess the evidence presented by the applicant regarding the real risks of persecution they faced in their country of origin, and whether this failure amounted to a jurisdictional error.

Justice Barnes reasoned that a jurisdictional error occurs when a tribunal misunderstands or fails to exercise its statutory power. In this instance, the Court found that the AAT had failed to properly engage with the applicant's evidence concerning the specific nature and likelihood of harm they claimed to face. The AAT's reasons did not demonstrate a sufficient consideration of the cumulative impact of the risks identified, leading the Court to conclude that the AAT had not properly exercised its function of assessing the applicant's claims according to the relevant legal standards.

The Court ordered that the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal be set aside. The matter was remitted to the AAT for redetermination according to law.