AEM20 v Minister for Home Affairs [2020] FCA 623

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

AEM20 v Minister for Home Affairs [2020] FCA 623 File number: NSD 22 of 2020

Judge: KATZMANN J

Date of judgment: 12 May 2020

Catchwords: MIGRATION — review of decision made by Minister personally to refuse to grant a Safe Haven Enterprise visa under s 501(6)(ba) of Migration Act 1958 (Cth) — where applicant volunteered information to Department of assistance provided to people smuggler in Indonesia in exchange for discounted passage to Australia — where Departmental reviewing officer determined he satisfied criteria for protection visa and Australian Federal Police investigated his conduct in Indonesia and he was not prosecuted — where Minister said he was satisfied applicant did not pass the character test because he reasonably suspected he had been involved in conduct constituting an offence under one or more of ss 233A to 234A (people smuggling) although applicant had not been convicted or charged with any such offence — where impressive evidence of good character presented to Minister — whether Minister could lawfully form a reasonable suspicion that applicant had been involved in conduct constituting an offence under ss 233A to 234A if the conduct did not constitute an offence at time of suspected involvement — whether Minister committed jurisdictional error by failing to identify in which of those seven offences he suspected the applicant to have been involved — whether Minister failed to consider applicant's additional protection claims according to law — where Minister determined that applicant represented an unacceptable risk to the Australian community, whether Minister's conclusion that in order to meet Australia's non-refoulement obligations he could exercise his personal non-compellable power to grant applicant a visa in the public interest under s 195A was not properly considered or legally unreasonable — whether Minister's findings that risk of applicant engaging in other serious conduct could not be ruled out and that he represented an unacceptable risk to the Australian community were legally unreasonable — whether Minister's decision beyond power in any event as not open to him to refuse to grant a protection visa under s 501(1) since commencement of Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Act 2014 (Cth).