SZUQO v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, SZUQO, sought judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) that refused her application for a protection visa. SZUQO claimed she would face persecution in the United States on account of her sexual preference. The dispute before Judge Driver in the Federal Circuit Court concerned whether the RRT had properly considered SZUQO's claim.

The central legal issue was whether the RRT erred in its assessment of SZUQO's claim for protection. Specifically, the court was required to determine if the RRT had failed to consider a relevant aspect of SZUQO's claim by focusing on her identity as bisexual rather than considering how she might be perceived by others in the United States, particularly as a lesbian.

Judge Driver reasoned that the RRT had made an error of law by failing to consider whether SZUQO would be perceived as a lesbian, irrespective of her self-identification as bisexual. The RRT's focus on the distinction between bisexual and lesbian identities, without addressing the potential for persecution based on perceived sexual orientation, meant that the Tribunal had not properly assessed the applicant's claim according to the relevant legal principles. Consequently, the RRT's decision was found to be vitiated by this error.

The Court ordered that a writ of certiorari issue to quash the RRT's decision of 3 June 2014, and a writ of mandamus issue requiring the RRT to redetermine the review application according to law.