Grant v Commissioner of Police

Case [2020] NSWCATAD 158

Civil and Administrative Tribunal


New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Grant v Commissioner of Police [2020] NSWCATAD 158
Hearing dates: 18 June 2020
Date of orders: 23 June 2020
Decision date: 23 June 2020
Jurisdiction:Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division
Before: Dr J Lucy, Senior Member
Decision:

The respondent’s decision to revoke the applicant’s firearms licence is set aside.

Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW – Firearms – Revocation of firearm licence – Where applicant found guilty of offence of cultivating prohibited plant - Whether applicant a fit and proper person to hold a licence – Whether it is in the public interest for applicant to hold a licence – Whether conditional release order in relation to offence warrants revocation of licence where order would preclude applicant from obtaining a new licence – Whether Tribunal needs to be satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances - Non-disclosure orders – Where non-disclosure orders made which prohibited disclosure of some evidence to applicant – Principles of open justice and procedural fairness –Approach to dealing with confidential evidence which has not been disclosed to the applicant
Legislation Cited: Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 (NSW)
Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW)
Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW)
Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW)
Firearms Act 1996 (NSW)
Firearms Regulation 2017 (NSW)
Cases Cited: AML v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force [2013] NSWADT 5
Australian Broadcasting Tribunal v Bond (1990) 170 CLR 321
BCS v NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal [2015] NSWSC 126
Bellamy v Bellamy [2018] NSWSC 534
Cusumano v Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police Service [2001] NSWADT 50.
CYL v YZA [2017] NSWCATAP 105
Dominice v Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd (2017) 81 MVR 249; [2017] NSWCA 171
Hamshere v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force [2012] NSWADT 244
Hughes & Vale Pty Ltd v State of New South Wales (1955) 93 CLR 127
Jubian v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force [2019] NSWCATAD 70
Kalinic v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police [2006] NSWADT 227
Maloney v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police (22 November 2004, Administrative Decisions Tribunal, unreported)
Nepotu v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force [2020] NSWCATAD 101
Parisi v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force [2018] NSWCATAD 155
R v The War Pensions Entitlement Appeal Tribunal; ex parte Bott (1933) 50 CLR 228
Roads and Maritime Services v Rifahi [2015] NSWCATAP 43
Romanos v Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police Force [2019] NSWCATAD 272
Shi v Migration Agents Registration Authority (2008) 235 CLR 286
State of New South Wales (Justice Health) v Dezfouli [2008] NSWADTAP 69
Ward v Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police Service [2000] NSWADT 28
Wilde v State of New South Wales [2015] NSWCA 28
Texts Cited: None cited
Category:Principal judgment
Parties: Kurby John Grant (Applicant)
Commissioner of Police (Respondent)
Representation: Solicitors:
Cole & Butler Solicitors (Applicant)
Maddocks (Respondent)
File Number(s): 2020/00063787
Publication restriction: The publication of the evidence presented to the Tribunal in private session, and the publication of the confidential…

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Grant v Commissioner of Police [2020] NSWCATAD 158
Case
[2020] NSWCATAD 158
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Grant v Commissioner of Police is an administrative review case where the applicant challenged the revocation of his firearm licence by the Commissioner of Police. The applicant had been found guilty of cultivating a prohibited plant and had received a conditional release order, which precluded him from obtaining a new licence. The decision to revoke the licence was made on the basis that the applicant was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence and that it was not in the public interest for him to hold a licence. The case required the court to consider the legal principles governing the revocation of a firearm licence, the public interest test, and the effect of a conditional release order.

The court had to determine whether the Tribunal was required to be satisfied that there were exceptional circumstances for the revocation of the licence, and whether the non-disclosure orders made in the case, which prohibited the disclosure of some evidence to the applicant, complied with the principles of open justice and procedural fairness. The court also had to consider the approach to dealing with confidential evidence which had not been disclosed to the applicant.

The court found that the Tribunal had not properly considered the effect of the conditional release order on the public interest test and had not given adequate consideration to the principles of open justice and procedural fairness. The court held that the Tribunal needed to be satisfied that there were exceptional circumstances for the revocation of the licence, and that the non-disclosure orders were not justified in this case. The court set aside the decision to revoke the applicant’s firearms licence and remitted the matter to the Tribunal for reconsideration.

Orders

Orders of the court

The respondent’s decision to revoke the applicant’s firearms licence is set aside.

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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