NBJA v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

1. The application for leave to appeal be dismissed.
2. The applicant pay the Minister's costs in the sum of $1000. Note: Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

ON APPEAL FROM THE FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT 1 This is an application for leave to appeal against the judgment of a Federal Magistrate of 27 September 2007 (NBJA v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2007] FMCA 1703), dismissing as an abuse of process an application for judicial review of the decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal of 9 July 2007. In that decision the Refugee Review Tribunal determined that it had no jurisdiction to entertain an application for review of a decision of a delegate of the Minister, refusing the applicant a protection visa. It did so on the basis that the Tribunal had earlier heard and determined an application for review, resulting in a decision of 12 August 2004 (N04/48978). 2 That decision had, in turn, been challenged in the Federal Magistrates Court (NBJA v Minister for Immigration & Anor [2005] FMCA 1759), this Court (NBJA v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs [2006] FCA 1245) and the High Court (NBJA v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs [2007] HCATrans 283). It is not apparent to me that the Federal Magistrate erred in dismissing the application as an abuse of process, on the basis that the Tribunal had correctly held that it had no jurisdiction to entertain the second application for review. Accordingly, the application for leave to appeal, if there be an appeal, is doomed to fail and the appropriate order is to dismiss the application with costs and I so order. I fix those costs in the sum of $1000. I certify that the preceding two (2) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Judgment herein of the Honourable Justice Moore.