SZWBV v Minister for Immigration

The applicant, SZWBV, sought judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) to refuse his application for a protection visa. The applicant alleged that the Tribunal's decision was affected by jurisdictional error.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the Tribunal failed to address all of the applicant's claims regarding his fear of persecution by non-state actors by reason of his race, and whether the Tribunal erred in its assessment of the applicant's claim against the complementary protection criterion.

Justice Smith found that the Tribunal had constructively failed to exercise its jurisdiction by not dealing with all of the applicant's claims concerning persecution by non-state actors. The court determined that the Tribunal's assessment of the complementary protection criterion was also flawed. Consequently, the court issued the necessary writs.