SZSTT v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, SZSTT, sought judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) to refuse her application for a protection visa. The Minister for Immigration was the respondent. The core of the dispute concerned allegations that the Tribunal's decision was affected by jurisdictional error due to its conduct in relation to the applicant's evidence.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Tribunal committed jurisdictional error by failing to comply with section 424A of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth). This involved determining whether the Tribunal made the required enquiries and whether it discouraged the applicant from placing relevant evidence before it, as alleged by the applicant.

Justice Cameron found that the Tribunal had indeed failed to comply with its obligations under section 424A of the *Migration Act*. The Court reasoned that the Tribunal's actions, specifically its failure to make adequate enquiries and its conduct that discouraged the applicant from submitting further evidence, amounted to a jurisdictional error. This failure meant the Tribunal did not afford the applicant procedural fairness, thereby vitiating its decision.

Consequently, the Court set aside the Tribunal's decision and remitted the matter to the Tribunal for re-determination according to law.