Duncan v ICAC McGuigan v ICAC Kinghorn v ICAC Cascade Coal v ICAC [2014] NSWSC 1018

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Duncan v ICAC McGuigan v ICAC Kinghorn v ICAC Cascade Coal v ICAC [2014] NSWSC 1018 Hearing dates: 23/06/2014, 24/06/2014 and 25/06/2014 Decision date: 29 July 2014 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Administrative Law Before: McDougall J Decision: In proceedings 2013/249678: order that the further amended summons be dismissed. In proceedings 2013/325031: order that the amended summons be dismissed with costs. In proceedings 2013/326066: (a) declare that the determination by the defendant, in the report entitled "investigation into the conduct into Ian Macdonald, Edward Obeid Snr, Moses Obeid and others" dated July 2013, that the plaintiff had engaged in corrupt conduct within the meaning of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (NSW) was not made according to law and is a nullity. (b) order the defendant to pay the plaintiff's costs. In proceedings 2014/13155: order that the summons be dismissed with costs. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - judicial review - Independent Commission Against Corruption - appeal against finding of corrupt conduct under s 8 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (NSW) - whether conduct could "adversely affect" the exercise of "official functions" by "public officials" - meaning of the expression "official functions" - meaning of the term "could" - degree of probability or certainty required for conduct to fall into category of conduct which "could" adversely affect the exercise of official functions - whether it is necessary to identify the public officials or authorities and the official functions in order to determine whether those functions could be adversely affected by the conduct - whether an official function identified by the Commission was actually a function that the Minister could exercise - Whether conduct would actually have had an adverse effect on the exercise of official functions - whether non-disclosure of information could have adversely affected official function of granting a mining lease - application of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (NSW), s 8.