CM v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice

The applicant, CM, sought judicial review of a decision by a District Court judge to refuse an application for recusal. The Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice, was the first respondent. The proceedings were before the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the District Court judge had erred in law by refusing the application for recusal. This required the Court to consider the principles governing apprehended bias and the test for recusal in the context of judicial decision-making.

The Court of Appeal found that the grounds for the recusal application were not made out. It applied the established test for apprehended bias, which requires an informed, objective observer to reasonably apprehend that the judge might not bring an impartial mind to the issues the judge is to decide. The Court concluded that there was no basis for such an apprehension in this instance. Consequently, the summons seeking judicial review was dismissed.