Collier v Attorney General for New South Wales (No 1)

In *Collier v Attorney General for New South Wales (No 1)*, the applicant, Mr Collier, sought the disqualification of Leeming JA from hearing proceedings. The dispute concerned an application for recusal, which was ultimately refused by the court.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether there were grounds for Leeming JA to recuse himself from the proceedings. This involved an assessment of whether there was a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the judge.

Leeming JA applied the well-established test for apprehended bias, which requires consideration of whether a fair-minded lay observer, having considered the facts, would apprehend that the judge might not bring an impartial mind to the resolution of the question the judge is to decide. His Honour found that the circumstances did not give rise to such an apprehension, concluding that there was no question of principle involved in the application for recusal.

The application for recusal was dismissed.