British American Tobacco Australia Services Limited v Laurie [2011] HCA 2

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

FRENCH CJ,

GUMMOW, HEYDON, KIEFEL AND BELL JJ

BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO AUSTRALIA

SERVICES LIMITED APPELLANT

AND

CLAUDIA JEAN LAURIE (AS ADMINISTRATRIX OF

THE ESTATE OF DONALD HENRY LAURIE AND

ON HER OWN BEHALF) & ORS RESPONDENTS

British American Tobacco Australia Services Limited v Laurie

[2011] HCA 2

9 February 2011

S138/2010

ORDER

1. Appeal allowed.

2. Set aside paragraph 2 of the order of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales made on 17 December 2009, and in place thereof order that the fourth respondent be prohibited from further hearing or determining proceeding 6057 of 2006 in the Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales.

3. The appellant pay the first respondent's costs of the appeal in this Court.

On appeal from the Supreme Court of New South Wales

Representation

J R Sackar QC with P J Brereton SC and M J O'Meara for the appellant (instructed by Corrs Chambers Westgarth Lawyers)

D F Jackson QC with B F Quinn and S Tzouganatos for the first respondent (instructed by Turner Freeman Lawyers)

Submitting appearances for the second to fourth respondents

Notice: This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.

CATCHWORDS

British American Tobacco Australia Services Limited v Laurie

Courts and judges – Bias – Reasonable apprehension of bias by reason of pre‑judgment – Where judge previously made finding on same issue in unrelated interlocutory proceeding – Knowledge and characteristics to be attributed to fair‑minded lay observer – Whether fair-minded lay observer taken to understand rules of evidence and procedure – Whether later statements of judge in recusal application relevant to fair-minded lay observer's assessment – Livesey v New South Wales Bar Association (1983) 151 CLR 288.