Darcy v Prisoners Review Board of Western Australia

[2018] WASC 74

JURISDICTION     :   SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

IN CIVIL

CITATION:   DARCY -v- PRISONERS REVIEW BOARD OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA [2018] WASC 74

CORAM:   TOTTLE J

HEARD:   1 MARCH 2018

DELIVERED          :   1 MARCH 2018

FILE NO/S:   CIV 1283 of 2018

BETWEEN:   JOSEPH PAUL DARCY

First Plaintiff

JOSEPH LAURENCE DARCY
Second Plaintiff

AND

PRISONERS REVIEW BOARD OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Defendant

Catchwords:

Administrative law - Habeas corpus - Person serving sentence of imprisonment

Legislation:

Nil

Result:

Application dismissed

Category:    B

Representation:

Counsel:

First Plaintiff                  :     No appearance

Second Plaintiff             :     In person

Defendant:     Ms H Richardson

Solicitors:

First Plaintiff                  :     No appearance

Second Plaintiff             :     In person

Defendant:     State Solicitor for Western Australia

Case(s) referred to in judgment(s):

Ex parte Williams (1934) 51 CLR 545

1. TOTTLE J:  I am dealing with an application for the issue of a writ of habeas corpus made by Mr Joseph Paul Darcy and Mr Joseph Laurence Darcy.  The application is made for an order compelling the respondent, the Prisoners Review Board of Western Australia, to release Mr Joseph Paul Darcy from the Wooroloo Prison Farm where he is presently held.  The application has been brought on short notice and Mr Joseph Laurence Darcy appears in person.

2. The application is supported by an affidavit sworn by Mr Joseph Laurence Darcy and by a document entitled petition for writ of habeas corpus.  The paperwork is irregular in form, but for present purposes no adverse consequences flow from that. 

3. For reasons I explained to Mr Darcy in the course of the hearing and which I will restate now, this is an application which cannot succeed because a writ of habeas corpus will not issue to compel the release of a person who is serving a term of imprisonment following conviction in a court:  Ex parte Williams (1934) 51 CLR 545, 548 - 549.

4. It is beyond any argument, and indeed, the submissions that Mr Joseph Laurence Darcy has made on Mr Joseph Paul Darcy's behalf acknowledge, that Mr Joseph Paul Darcy is serving a sentence of imprisonment following conviction.  That is confirmed by the transcript of a hearing before Magistrate Langden that took place on 4 April 2017 in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia sitting at Mandurah, which records both the fact of Mr Joseph Paul Darcy's convictions of various offences and the imposition of terms of imprisonment that add up to a total term of one year and three months.

5. For those reasons the application must be dismissed.