Obeid v R [2015] NSWCCA 309

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Obeid v R [2015] NSWCCA 309 Hearing dates: 20, 24 November 2015 Decision date: 08 December 2015 Before: Bathurst CJ; Beazley P; Leeming JA Decision: 1. Grant leave to appeal.

2. Appeal dismissed.

3. Subject to order 4 below, order that, pursuant to s 8 of the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW), it being necessary to prevent prejudice to the proper administration of justice, this judgment not be published pending the determination of the trial.

4. Remit for the consideration by the trial judge whether an order pursuant to the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) should be made in relation to this judgment and the judgments at first instance R v Obeid (No 2) [2015] NSWSC 1380 and R v Obeid (No 3) [2015] NSWSC 1441.

[Note: Order 3 was discharged on 7 April 2016; see R v Obeid (No 8) [2016] NSWSC 388.] Catchwords: COURTS – jurisdiction – common law offence of misconduct in public office – former member of Legislative Council charged – application to quash indictment – whether Supreme Court of New South Wales has jurisdiction – whether effect of parliamentary privilege was to deny jurisdiction – Constitution Act 1902 (NSW) ss 13A, 14A – whether jurisdiction should be determined before other submissions

CRIMINAL LAW – common law offence of misconduct in public office – elements of offence – whether extends to members of Parliament – whether extends to conduct connected to member's public office – relevance of failure to bring prosecutions – R v Quach [2010] VSCA 106; 201 A Crim R 552 considered