Uprety and Migration Agents Registration Authority

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an objection to a summons issued to the Migration Agents Registration Authority in proceedings between Mr. Uprety and the Authority. The dispute concerned the relevance of documents sought by a summons in the context of a merits review.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the documents sought by the summons were relevant to the issues to be decided in the merits review of the delegate's decision dated 26 May 2020, and whether a summons could be issued to a party to the proceedings.

The Tribunal reasoned that the process of merits review, as established in *Shi v Migration Agents Registration Authority* [2008] HCA 31, does not require the review to be confined to material before the original decision-maker, absent any statutory limitation. The Tribunal noted that no such limitation applied in this instance. It further held that the Tribunal stands in the shoes of the original decision-maker and may consider any material it deems relevant. Applying this principle, the Tribunal found that the documents sought by the summons had apparent relevance to the principal issue on review.

Consequently, the Tribunal ordered that the summons request was to be complied with.