Justice Jeffrey Spender, awarding victory today to Dr Mohamed Haneef in his fight to have his 457 visa reinstated, concluded:

In my opinion … the test which the Minister applied was not the test called for by s 501(6)(b). As the result of this misconception as to what the exercise of the statutory power entailed, there was a purported, but not a real exercise of the power conferred by s 501(3). As a consequence, the decision is a nullity and s 474 does not apply. It follows that there ought to be an order in the nature of certiorari quashing the respondent’s decision made on 16 July 2007 to cancel the applicant’s Subclass 457 Business (Long Stay) (Class UC) visa, and also an order in the nature of prohibition and/or injunction restraining the respondent from acting upon the cancellation of the applicant’s visa.

Read Justice Spender’s full judgment of Haneef v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2007] FCA 1273 (21 August 2007).