Darch & Ors v The Collector of Customs (New South Wales)

The applicants, Alan Royston Darch, Julia Joy Darch, Eplaima Pty Ltd, and Centurion Bicycles Pty Ltd, sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Collector of Customs (New South Wales), John Matthew Skevington, P. Ricketts, and the Commonwealth of Australia. The dispute concerned the validity of a decision made by a public officer, specifically a seizure of goods by a Customs officer.

The legal issues before the Court revolved around the necessary jurisdictional facts for a valid executive decision that requires, as a condition of its validity, a belief on reasonable grounds. The applicants argued that the decision under appeal was contrary to prior High Court authority, failed to account for modern legal developments regarding procedural unfairness, and involved a matter of significant public importance. Central to the argument was the test prescribed by the *Customs Act* for such decisions.

The applicants contended that if the decision of the Court of Appeal was correct, then a seizure of goods by a Customs officer would be valid even if the decision-maker, despite being statutorily required to act on reasonable grounds, made a decision in good faith on grounds they *thought* were reasonable. This would hold true even if critical facts were false, relevant considerations were ignored, irrelevant considerations were taken into account, the decision was demonstrably wrong, or the decision was not in fact based on reasonable grounds, as found by the judge. The applicants highlighted the harsh consequences of such seizures.