28 Section 417(1) stands in sharp contrast. It does not provide for any right to apply to the Minister for the exercise of the Minister's discretion. Presumably Parliament had in mind that the Minister's discretion would be activated by some communication to him, particularly as the power of the Minister may only be exercised by the Minister personally and may not be delegated. The Minister is required by s 417(4)(c) to provide reasons for his decision if she substitutes a more favourable decision, in particular for thinking that the decision is in the public interest, which must be laid before each house of Parliament. However, she is not otherwise obliged to follow any particular procedural provisions under Pt 7 of the Act.
29 Section 417(7) is significant. It provides:
'The Minister does not have a duty to consider whether to exercise the power under subsection (1) in respect of any decision, whether he or she is requested to do so by the applicant or by any other person, or in any other circumstances.'
It can be seen that there is no formal process to enliven the respondent's consideration of the possible exercise of power under s 417, and no obligation upon the respondent to consider whether to exercise the power. A request to the Minister to do so does not give rise to any obligation on the part of the Minister to do so. Hence, the power under s 417 may be contrasted with the substantial edifice surrounding review by the Tribunal under Part 7 of the Act, and with the obligation of the Tribunal to determine a review application made to it. Moreover, the respondent has no obligation to provide reasons for any decision not to exercise the power under s 417, and the obligation to do so in the case of a favourable decision is clearly to provide accountability to the Parliament, rather than reflective of some obligation to the beneficiary of the favourable decision: see s 417(4).
30 Those features, in my judgment, point strongly to s 417 not providing a 'form of review' of the application for a protection visa, as that expression is used in s 5(9) and s 198(6) of the Act.
31 In NATB, the Full Court at [58] - [59]described the power in s 417 in the following terms:
'This is a general humanitarian power. The power would be available to the Minister where, for example, a person had a well-founded fear of loss of life or liberty or of torture or other mistreatment, but for a reason which is not a Convention reason. Section 351 [and s 417] of the Act gives the Minister the same power in relation to decisions of the Migration Review Tribunal under Pt 5 of the Act [and of the Tribunal under Pt 7 of the Act].
The relevance of …s 351 and s 417, for present purposes, is that they demonstrate that Parliament appreciated the possibility of a non-citizen being removed to a country where he or she might face the prospect of death, torture or persecution. Parliament sought to avert that possibility to including specific provisions, each with its own pre-conditions. There may be room for debate about the adequacy of the provisions. However, doubts about adequacy cannot gainsay the apparent legislative intention. It is not to be supposed, in the context of such detailed provisions, that Parliament intended also to confer an overriding discretion on anybody who fell within the Act's wide definition of "officer". That definition includes persons outside the Department who would have little or no capacity to form a reliable judgment about the prospective fate of a non-citizen upon return to his or her country of nationality.' [58-59]
32 In M38/2002, the Full Court at [80], ALR 311 described ss 48B and 417 of the Act in the following terms:
'The Act accommodates the possibility that there may have been some relevant change in the circumstances of the detainee, vis a vis his country of original in the time elapsing between the refusal of a visa, including a protection visa, and the time for his removal … In permitting the Minister to substitute a decision more favourable to a refugee claimant than the decision of the Tribunal, s 417 also allows the Minister to grant a visa upon humanitarian grounds, or to cure error on the Tribunal's part.'
33 I do not consider the obligations imposed upon the respondent by s 417(2), when exercising the power under s 417(1), indicate a different legislative intention.
34 Division 3 of Part 2 of the Act deals generally with visas for non-citizens. It provides for classes of visas, how visas must be applied for, how visas are granted, how visas may be used, and how visas may be cancelled. It is not necessary to refer to all the topics which, in various subdivisions, Div 3 of Part 2 of the Act addresses. Relevantly for present purposes subdiv AA (ss 44-51) deals with how visas are to be applied for, subdiv AB (ss 52-64) prescribes a code for dealing fairly, efficiently and quickly with visa applications, and subdiv AC (ss 65-69) deals with the grant of visas. As noted, s 417(2) provides that in exercising her power under s 417(1) the respondent is not bound by subdiv AA or subdiv AC.
35 Within subdiv AA, the significant obligation upon the respondent is to consider a valid visa application. That does not apply to the respondent when considering whether to exercise her power under s 417(1). Section 417(7) also removes any doubt on that score. Within subdiv AC, the respondent is obliged to grant a visa if satisfied the criteria applicable are satisfied, and to refuse it if not so satisfied: s 65. She is required to notify the applicant of her decision in a specified way: s 66. Again, by reason of s 417(2), those obligations are not imposed upon the respondent when considering whether to exercise her power under s 417(2). The exclusions in s 417(2) indicate the edifice for the respondent making decisions with respect to visa applications at first instance does not apply. In my view, it therefore also supports the view that the exercise of the discretionary power in s 417(1) is not a review of the application for a protection visa. That is so whether the procedural obligations imposed upon the respondent under subdiv AB, in particular by ss 54, 56 and 57, apply to the respondent when, having decided in her discretion to consider exercising the power under s 417(1), she undertakes that consideration.
36 In my judgment, there is a further telling consideration in favour of the conclusion I have reached. A visa application is finally determined as explained by s 5(9) when no form of review is available. It encompasses by subclauses (a) and (b) both the making of a review and the potential entitlement to make one. Hence, although the proposed statement of claim alleges the making of an 'application' to the respondent under s 417(1) as leading to the view that the visa application has not been finally determined, the point would be equally valid so long as there was an entitlement to make an 'application' to the respondent to use her power under s 417(1). Unlike an application to the Tribunal, there is no time limit upon the making of a request to the respondent to exercise her power under s 417(1) of the Act. Section 412(1) provides for a prescribed period not exceeding 28 days within which a review application under Part 7 may be made to the Tribunal. Subclause (b) of s 5(9) appears to operate where there has been no timely applications to the Tribunal. If the prospect of the making of a request to the respondent to exercise her powers under s 417(1) were a form of review under Part 7, then subcl (b) of s 5(9) would have no work to do. There would be no period within which that form of review will have ended. Moreover, there is no provision restricting the making of serial requests to the respondent to exercise her power under s 417(1). A request to do so does not give rise to a duty to consider exercising the power: s 417(1). Consideration of a request may lead to a refusal to exercise the power. If the existence of the power under s 417(1) were a form of review under Part 7, there would be no circumstance in which the decision to refuse a visa would no longer be subject to any form of review and no period within which such a review could have been instituted. Consequently, testing the applicant's contention in that way, and if it is correct, the obligation under s 198(6), would never arise in respect of a protection visa application because the application would never reach the stage of being finally determined. Clearly, that is not what the legislature intended.
37 In my judgment, it is clear that the contention of the applicant based upon the proposed amendment to the statement of claim must fail. Accordingly, I do not grant leave to amend the statement of claim in the terms sought.
38 The alternative contention of counsel for the applicant was to distinguish the decisions of the Full Courts in NATB and M38/2002. I do not think it I possible to do so. The fact that the present applicant has sought special leave to appeal to the High Court from the decision of the Full Court in NATB does not mean I should not follow those decisions. The focus of that application is, I am told, upon the concept of reasonable practicability in s 198(6), rather than upon the word 'remove', which was the focus of the submission for special leave to appeal from the decision of the Full Court in M38/2002. Be that as it may, I do not think that provides a foundation for distinguishing NATB or M38/2002 for present purposes. They are each decisions of the Full Court of this Court. They are consistent with each other. They explain the limits of s 198(6). In essence, and subject to the contention to which I have referred above, I think they decide that the grounds upon which the applicant pursues the application as expressed in the statement of claim simply are not tenable. I do not consider that those decisions are distinguishable on the basis asserted.
39 Finally, the applicant sought that this matter be adjourned until his application for special leave to appeal to the High Court from the Full Court decision in NATB has been heard and determined. Counsel was unable to say with any accuracy when such an application may be heard, and was not in a position to give any undertaking on behalf of the applicant that such an application would be pursued with all due diligence, although I accept that the intention of the solicitors acting for the applicant is to do so. I decline to grant the adjournment sought. In my judgment, in the face of Full Court decisions in NATB and in M38/2002, the respondent is entitled to have applied by motion for summary judgment and it is incumbent on the Court to determine whether the motion should or should not succeed.