Vella v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection & Anor

In *Vella v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection & Anor*, Gageler J of the High Court of Australia considered an application for judicial review concerning the lawfulness of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. The applicant, Mr Vella, sought to challenge the validity of a deportation order made against him.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Minister's decision to refuse to revoke a deportation order, made pursuant to s 501(1) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth), was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the Court had to determine if the Minister, in considering the revocation application, had failed to take into account a relevant consideration or had taken into account an irrelevant consideration, thereby vitiating the lawfulness of the decision.

Gageler J reasoned that the Minister's power to revoke a deportation order under s 501(3) of the *Migration Act* was a broad one, requiring the Minister to consider all relevant circumstances. His Honour found that the Minister's delegate, in assessing Mr Vella's revocation application, had failed to give adequate weight to the submissions made by Mr Vella regarding his rehabilitation and his ties to the Australian community. This failure to properly consider relevant material amounted to a jurisdictional error, as it meant the delegate had not exercised the power conferred by the Act according to its terms.

Consequently, Gageler J made orders quashing the decision of the Minister's delegate to refuse to revoke the deportation order and remitted the matter to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.