Dacich v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW); Kennedy v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW)

In *Dacich v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW)* and *Kennedy v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW)*, the applicants sought various forms of relief from the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The core of the dispute involved challenges to the lawfulness of custodial sentences of full-time imprisonment, with applications for stays of sentence and judicial review proceedings. The applicants also sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia.

The legal issues before the Court included whether a fresh application for judicial review, filed while the applicant was on bail, effected a statutory stay of sentence. The Court was also required to consider the criteria for granting special leave to appeal to the High Court, specifically whether exceptional circumstances existed, and the Court's power to stay a sentence under the *Supreme Court Act 1970* (NSW).

The Court's reasoning focused on the procedural requirements for statutory stays and the principles governing applications for special leave to appeal. The Court noted that the applications before it were largely out of time and that the applicants had not satisfied the stringent criteria for exceptional circumstances necessary to grant special leave to appeal to the High Court. The Court ultimately dismissed most of the applicants' notices of motion and oral applications, while making specific directions regarding the filing of amended summonses, supporting affidavits, and further written submissions. The determination of the Director's notice of motion seeking dismissal of a summons was stood over pending the filing of this material.