SZSQN v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, SZSQN, sought judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) to refuse to grant a protection visa. The central dispute concerned whether the Tribunal's decision was affected by jurisdictional error, specifically by reason of it being made without hearing from the applicant and allegedly breaching section 424A of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Tribunal had committed jurisdictional error by failing to provide the applicant with an opportunity to be heard, as required by section 424A of the *Migration Act*. This section mandates that the Tribunal must notify the applicant of any adverse information it proposes to consider and provide them with a reasonable opportunity to respond. The applicant contended that the Tribunal's decision, made without such notification and opportunity to respond, was therefore invalid.

Judge Cameron found that the Tribunal had indeed breached section 424A of the *Migration Act*. The Court reasoned that the Tribunal had considered adverse information that was not previously before it and that it had failed to provide the applicant with adequate notice of this information or a reasonable opportunity to respond. This failure constituted a jurisdictional error, rendering the Tribunal's decision invalid. Consequently, the Court ordered that the Tribunal's decision be set aside.