SZVVD v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, a person in immigration detention, sought an injunction to prevent his transfer from the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (VIDC) to the Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre (YHIDC). The respondent was the Minister for Immigration. The matter came before Lloyd-Jones J of the Federal Court of Australia.

The central legal issue was whether the Federal Court had jurisdiction to entertain the applicant's application for an injunction. The applicant contended that the decision to transfer him was reviewable under the Migration Act and that the court possessed the necessary jurisdiction, including under s.75(v) of the Constitution, to grant the relief sought. The respondent argued that the transfer was an operational decision, not a reviewable decision under the Migration Act, and that the court lacked jurisdiction.

Lloyd-Jones J found that the decision to transfer the applicant was an operational decision and not one amenable to challenge under the Migration Act. The court considered s.256 of the Migration Act, which outlines rights for persons in immigration detention, and noted that the case of *Stretton v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection* [2015] FCA 249, relied upon by the applicant, concerned a different jurisdictional context. The judge agreed with the Minister's submission that no decision of the nature that could be challenged in the Federal Court had been made. Furthermore, by the time of the hearing, the applicant had already been transferred, rendering the sought relief futile. The court also considered the jurisdictional limitations of the Federal Circuit Court under s.10 of the *Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act 1999* (Cth), concluding that no relevant jurisdiction had been identified for the current matter.

Consequently, the application was dismissed. The applicant was ordered to pay the Minister's costs.