WZARB v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

In the case of WZARB v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, the appellant, an Afghan national, sought refugee status in Australia. The Federal Magistrates Court had previously affirmed a decision of the independent protection assessment reviewer, who determined that Australia did not owe the appellant protection obligations as a refugee. The appellant argued that the reviewer's failure to examine his ID card, which he claimed was central to his persecution claim, and not reverting to him as promised, deprived him of a fair opportunity to present his case, thus denying him natural justice.

The legal issues before the court were whether the reviewer's actions constituted a breach of procedural fairness and whether the appellant's rights were violated by the failure to adhere to the promise made during the interview. The court considered the principle that when a public authority promises a particular procedure will be followed, fairness may require adherence to that promise. This principle was referenced in the case of Ng Yuen Shiu and explained by Gleeson CJ in Lam.

The court found that the reviewer's undertaking to examine the ID card and revert to the appellant if necessary created an expectation that procedural fairness required the reviewer to follow through on that promise. The court held that the failure to examine the ID card and revert to the appellant as promised constituted a denial of procedural fairness. This conclusion was influenced by the dissenting opinion of Downes J in NAFF of 2002 v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs, which was later affirmed by the High Court in NAFF v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs.

The appeal was allowed, the previous orders set aside, and it was declared that the reviewer's recommendation was not made according to law as it entailed a denial of procedural fairness to the appellant. The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship was ordered to pay the appellant's costs of and incidental to the appeal and in the court below, to be taxed if not agreed.