The Hills Shire Council v Mouawad [2014] NSWLEC 59

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: The Hills Shire Council v Mouawad [2014] NSWLEC 59 Hearing dates: 8 and 13 May 2014 Decision date: 14 May 2014 Jurisdiction: Class 5 Before: Pepper J Decision: Application for disqualification upheld. Catchwords: BIAS: application for judge to disqualify herself on the grounds of apprehended bias - prior adverse credit finding made against defendant in unrelated proceedings - meaning of "implausible" - applicable legal principles - application upheld. Legislation Cited: Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001, s 31 Criminal Procedure Act 1986, s 247K Land and Environment Act 1979, ss 11, 21, 21A and 21B Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, ss 91(5), 143 and 169 Cases Cited: Australian National Industries Ltd v Spedley Securities Ltd (in liq) (1992) 26 NSWLR 411; (1992) 9 ACSR 309 British American Tobacco Australia Services Limited v Laurie [2011] HCA 2; (2011) 242 CLR 283 Duncan v Ipp [2013] NSWCA 189; (2013) 304 ALR 359 Ebner v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy [2000] HCA 63; (2000) 205 CLR 337 Johnson v Johnson [2000] HCA 48; (2000) 201 CLR 488 Livesey v New South Wales Bar Association 1983 HCA 17; (1983) 151 CLR 288 Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd v Nicholls [2011] HCA 48; (2011) 244 CLR 427 Mouawad v The Hills Shire Council; Mouawad v The Hills Shire Council [2013] NSWLEC 165 R v El-Zeyat and Aouad [2012] NSWSC 340 R v Lusink; Ex parte Shaw (1980) 32 ALR 47 R v Lars (1994) 73 A Crim R 91 R v Masters (1992) 26 NSWLR 450; (1992) 59 A Crim R 445 Re JRL; Ex parte CLJ (1986) 161 CLR 342 Rogerson v Tchia (1993) 113 FLR 436 Willoughby City Council v Finlay [2010] NSWLEC 184 Texts Cited: John Tarrant, Disqualification for Bias (The Federation Press, 2012)