New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council v Minister Administering the Crown Lands Act [2011] NSWLEC 147

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council v Minister Administering the Crown Lands Act [2011] NSWLEC 147 Hearing dates: 26/08/2011 Decision date: 26 August 2011 Jurisdiction: Class 3 Before: Pepper J Decision: Application to disqualify Acting Commissioner upheld Catchwords: BIAS: whether a reasonable apprehension of bias existed in circumstances where counsel for one of the parties and the Acting Commissioner assisting the Court were engaged to produce a draft report - held that an apprehension did exist and the Acting Commissioner was disqualified

ABORIGINAL: power of the Court to proceed hearing a Class 3 Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 appeal absent a Commissioner Legislation Cited: Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983, s 36 Crown Lands Act 1989 Land and Environment Court Act 1979, s 37 Cases Cited: British American Tobacco Australia Services Ltd v Laurie [2011] HCA; (2011) 242 CLR 283 Ebner v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy [2011] HCA 63; 205 CLR 337 Murlan Consulting Pty Ltd v Ku-ring-gai Municipal Council [2009] NSWCA 300; (2009) 170 LGERA 162 Category: Principal judgment Parties: NSW Aboriginal Land Council (Applicant) Minister Administering the Crown Lands Act (Respondent) Representation: Dr S E Pritchard (Applicant) Dr J G Renwick with Ms G E Wright (Respondent) Chalk & Fitzgerald (Applicant) NSW Crown Solicitor's Office (Respondent) File Number(s): 30124 of 2010