Federal Court. Does the "gravity of the obligation upon the [IAA] to make a determination about whether Australia’s protection obligations w[ere] engaged" inform the determination of whether the IAA's power under s 473DD was exercised legally reasonably? Was it "open to the [IAA] to have regard to the inherent implausibility of the new information when considered in light of other information already before it for the purpose of determining whether it constitutes “credible personal information”within the meaning of s 473DD(b)(ii)"?
Some of the questions to the Federal Court (FCA) were as follows:
Question 1: Does the "gravity of the obligation upon the [IAA] to make a determination about whether Australia’s protection obligations w[ere] engaged" inform the determination of whether the IAA's power under s 473DD was exercised legally reasonably?
Question 2: "In circumstances where the new information was not inconsistent with, or did not materially add to, the country information considered by the Authority", can the IAA's determination that the requirements of s 473DD be regarded as irrational, illogical or otherwise unreasonable in the relevant sense?
Question 3: Was it "open to the Authority to have regard to the inherent implausibility of the new information when considered in light of other information already before it for the purpose of determining whether it constitutes “credible personal information” within the meaning of s 473DD(b)(ii)"?
Question 4: Can the IAA, when assessing whether the new information is “credible personal information”, "require [an applicant] to satisfy it that the new information is true or accurate or that the Authority will accept necessarily that it is true or accurate if it were to be considered at the deliberative stage of the review"?
The FCA answered those questions as follows: