SZFVG v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2006] FCA 1179

The Decision under Review 2 The appellant is a citizen of Lebanon who arrived in Australia on 17 July 1995. He lodged a protection visa application which was refused by a delegate of the Minister on 3 June 1998. The appellant then applied to the Tribunal for review of that decision on 30 June 1998. 3 The appellant advanced claims to fear persecution from Syrian and Lebanese authorities and intelligence forces as well as Islamic militias in Syria. On 21 January 1999 the Tribunal wrote to the appellant and informed him that, after looking at the material relating to his application, it was not prepared to make a 'favourable decision' on that information alone and invited him to attend a hearing to give oral evidence in support of his claims. The appellant responded to that invitation by indicating that he wished to come to a hearing, but ultimately he failed to attend. The appellant would later claim in the Federal Magistrates Court that the reason for his failure to appear was that he did not receive the letter advising him of the hearing date. The Tribunal, faced with the non-appearance of the appellant, proceeded to make its decisions. The Tribunal based its rejection of his application for a protection visa on its inability to be satisfied on the limited information before it that he met the applicable visa criteria. The Tribunal's conclusion is expressed in the following terms: 'Having considered the evidence as a whole, the Tribunal is not satisfied that the applicant is a person to whom Australia has protection obligations under the Refugees Convention as amended by the Refugees Protocol. Therefore the applicant does not satisfy the criterion set out in s.36(2) of the Act for a protection visa.'