Re Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs; Ex parte Applicants S134/2002

Immigration – Refugees - Temporary protection visas - Refugee Review Tribunal ("the Tribunal") affirmed decision of delegate of the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs ("the Minister") not to grant protection visas - Minister not bound to consider whether to exercise power - Minister decided not to exercise power under s 417 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ("the Act") to substitute for the decision of the Tribunal a decision more favourable to the prosecutors - Whether decisions of the Tribunal and the Minister "privative clause decisions" under s 474 of the Act.

Immigration – Refugees - Applications for temporary protection visas by mother and children - First prosecutor's application asserted that she was a person to whom Australia had protection obligations under the Refugees Convention - Application not made on basis of membership of a family unit, to one of whom protection obligations were owed - Documents before the Tribunal indicated that the first prosecutor's husband held a temporary protection visa and had applied for a permanent protection visa - First prosecutor did not know of her husband's whereabouts or immigration status - Tribunal did not notice documents or appreciate their significance - Tribunal did not consider whether prosecutors entitled to protection visas on basis of membership of a family unit of which one person was owed protection obligations and had been granted a protection visa - Whether constructive failure to exercise jurisdiction - Whether denial of procedural fairness.

Immigration – Refugees - Whether jurisdictional error in decision by Minister to refuse to substitute for the decision of the Tribunal a decision more favourable to the prosecutors - Utility of relief.

Migration Act 1958 (Cth) – ss 36, 65, 414, 417, 474.

Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) – Sched 2, pars 785.21, 785.22.