SZTXL v Minister for Immigration - [2015] FCCA 1210

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA

SZTXL & ORS v MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & ANOR

[2015] FCCA 1210

Catchwords:
MIGRATION – Application seeking review of decision of Refugee Review Tribunal refusing to grant applicant a Protection (Class XA) visa – whether Tribunal was incoherent, irrational or unreasonable – no error demonstrated – application dismissed.

Legislation:

Migration Act 1958 (Cth), ss.36(2)(a), 36(2)(aa), 430

Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), reg.2.08

Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation [1947] 2 All ER 680
Buck v Bavone (1976) 135 CLR 110
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Li & Anor (2013) 249 CLR 332
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v SZJSS & Ors (2010) 243 CLR 164
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v SZMDS & Anor (2010) 240 CLR 611
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v SZOCT & Anor (2010) 189 FCR 577
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v SZQRB (2013) 210 FCR 505

Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Eshetu (1999) 197 CLR 611
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Yusuf (2001) 206 CLR 323

Re Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs; Ex parte Applicant S20/2002(2003) 198 ALR 59

Re Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs; Ex parte Durairajasingham (2000) 168 ALR 407
Sullivan v Civil Aviation Safety Authority (2014) 141 ALD 540
SZSSC v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection & Anor (2014) 317 ALR 365

First Applicant:

SZTXL

Second Applicant:

SZTXM

Third Applicant:

SZTXN

First Respondent:

MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & BORDER PROTECTION

Second Respondent:

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

File Number:

SYG 432 of 2014

Judgment of:

Judge Lloyd-Jones

Hearing date:

28 August 2014

Delivered at:

Sydney

Delivered on:

22 May 2015

REPRESENTATION

Counsel for the Applicant:

Mr JR Young

Solicitors for the Applicant:

G & S Law Group

Solicitor for the First Respondent:

Ms S Burnett of Clayton Utz

The Second Respondent:

The Second Respondent filed a submitting notice.

ORDERS

For the purposes of Part 11 of the Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 (Cth), SZTXL is appointed as litigation guardian of SZTXN.
The Application be dismissed.
The First and Second Applicants (SZTXL and SZTXM) pay the First Respondent’s costs and disbursements of and incidental to the Application.

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT
OF AUSTRALIA
AT SYDNEY

SYG 432 of 2014

SZTXL

First Applicant

SZTXM

Second Applicant

SZTXN

Third Applicant

And

MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION & BORDER PROTECTION

First Respondent

REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

Second Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

Introduction

Before the Court is an application filed 25 February 2014 under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the “Migration Act”) seeking judicial review of a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) dated 28 January 2014. By that decision, the Tribunal affirmed a decision of a delegate of the first respondent, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (the “Minister”), to refuse to grant the applicants Protection (Class XA) visas.
The solicitors for the Minister filed a folder which was indexed, labelled and paginated, containing all documents which may be relevant to the hearing. The volume of material provided is identified as…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2015] FCCA 1210
Decision Date: 22 May 2015

CaseChat Overview and Summary

SZTXL, the applicant, sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Immigration, the respondent, to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant, a citizen of Iran, claimed to have been persecuted in his home country due to his political opinions and his membership of a particular social group. The Minister's delegate had refused the application, finding that the applicant's claims were not credible and that he did not meet the criteria for a protection visa under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). The matter came before Lloyd-Jones J in the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the delegate's decision was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the applicant argued that the delegate failed to properly consider and assess all the evidence presented in support of his protection claims, including evidence relating to his alleged persecution. The applicant contended that this failure amounted to an unreasonable exercise of the delegate's power and a breach of the principles of procedural fairness.

Lloyd-Jones J considered the evidence before the delegate and the reasons provided for the refusal. His Honour found that the delegate had not adequately addressed significant aspects of the applicant's evidence, particularly concerning the alleged threats and harassment he faced in Iran. The Court held that a failure to give proper consideration to relevant evidence, where that evidence is material to the assessment of the applicant's claims, can constitute jurisdictional error. The delegate's reasons were found to be deficient in that they did not demonstrate a comprehensive and balanced assessment of the applicant's case.

Consequently, Lloyd-Jones J quashed the delegate's decision and remitted the application for a protection visa to the Minister for redetermination according to law.

Orders