John Darren McCallum v The Commissioner of Corrective Services of New South Wales [2001] NSWSC 208

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : John Darren McCallum v The Commissioner of Corrective Services of New South Wales [2001] NSWSC 208 FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 30036/2000 HEARING DATE(S) : 21 March 2001 JUDGMENT DATE : 27 March 2001

PARTIES : John Darren McCallum The Commissioner of Corrective Services of New South Wales JUDGMENT OF : Sully J

COUNSEL : Plaintiff - in person Defendant - R. J. Bromwich SOLICITORS : Plaintiff - in person Defendant - I. V. Knight - Crown Solicitor Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW) LEGISLATION CITED : Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Correctional Centres Routine Regulation DECISION : Plaintiff's summons dismissed; No order as to costs; Exhibits may be returned

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES ADMINISTRATIVE LAW DIVISION

SULLY J

27 March 2001

30036/2000 - John Darren McCALLUM v THE COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTIVE SERVICES OF NEW SOUTH WALES

JUDGMENT

1 HIS HONOUR: Mr. McCallum, the plaintiff, is a prisoner at present detained at the Long Bay Correctional Centre. By a summons filed originally on 10 May 2000, and amended by a document filed in Court on 30 May 2000, the plaintiff seeks against the Commissioner of Corrective Services:

(1) A declaration that provisions of the Corrective Services Departmental Policy ("the Policy") respecting the classification of sex offenders are ultra vires in that the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW) , ("the Administration Act"), does not authorise them.

(2) A declaration that particular provisions of the Policy which allow a prisoner to be classified as a sex offender by reason of his previous convictions for sex-related offences are an abuse of powers and unreasonable in the case of a prisoner who, when so classified, is serving a sentence, not for a sex-related offence, but for a wholly unrelated type of offence.