Peter Dutton has been threatened with jail time over a visa delay.

Federal Court Justice Geoffrey Flick has issued a strongly worded rebuke to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, after Mr Dutton was ordered to make a decision by Friday June 26 on an Iranian man's longstanding application for a protection visa.

The Federal Court judge said there is no self-evident reason why the government minister could not be fined or jailed if found guilty of contempt of court.

Justice Flick said the Department of Home Affairs had acted “contrary to law” after an earlier ruling, and has now slammed the “unreasonable delay” in considering the man's application for a protection visa, which was lodged three-and-a-half years ago.

The man has been in immigration detention since December 2016.

Last week, Justice Flick said he expected “a decision will shortly be made”, but it was not made, with lawyers acting for Mr Dutton and his colleague, Immigration Minister David Coleman, saying they would lodge an appeal.

The lawyers said in an email that “the minister" believed Justice Flick was “in error”.

This week, Justice Flick said that “regrettably, by that email 'the Minister' has intentionally opted not to comply with the law”.

“An order is thus necessary to ensure that 'the Minister' responsible for administering the Migration Act does so in accordance with law.

“The stance of 'the Minister', expressed as it is, makes a mockery of any concept of the Minister acting as a model litigant.

“In the absence of argument, there is no self-evident reason why even a Minister of the Crown should not comply with orders made by this Court and, if found guilty of contempt, [be] liable to the same penalties as any other litigant.

He said it is, “to say the least, regrettable that those responsible for administering the Migration Act in accordance with law have deliberately decided to administer that legislation in a manner contrary to law”.

Meanwhile, Nauroze Anees, a 32-year-old Pakistani citizen who has been in Australia since 2007, remains detained at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre, despite his detention being found to be ‘arbitrary’ under domestic and international law.

TheFull Federal Court of Australia ruled in the man’s favour on March 2 this year, declaring that the decision to refuse his visa was made illegally.

Over 100 days since the judgement, Mr Anees remains in detention.

Mr Anees is the insider who sparked the ‘cash-for-visas’ scandal in Australia’s immigration detention centres, claiming that detainees had bragged about outside connections who could free immigration detainees for a fee in the tens of thousands of dollars.

In March he wrote about the compounded struggles of detainees during the COVID-19 pandemic, where a ban on visitors has left those inside without access to their loved one or certain medical experts like psychiatrists.