Dowling v Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales

The applicant, Mr Dowling, sought bail pending the hearing of his appeal against conviction and sentence for contempt of court. The appeal was listed for hearing in approximately four weeks. The Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales was the respondent.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether Mr Dowling had established a sufficient prospect of success on appeal to warrant the grant of bail. This involved considering the strength of his arguments concerning legal defences, the interaction of the freedom of communication principles established in *Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation* with the contempt charges, and the potential for the Court of Appeal to reduce his sentence to a point where the appeal would become nugatory. The court also considered the effect of Mr Dowling's failure to comply with rule 40.7 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (NSW).

Leeming JA found that Mr Dowling had not established a sufficient prospect of success in setting aside his conviction. Furthermore, he determined that there was insufficient prospect that the Court of Appeal would reduce the sentence to such an extent that the appeal would be rendered nugatory. Consequently, bail was refused. The court also directed the Registrar to appoint an amicus curiae to assist at the appeal hearing.