Grant v Commissioner of Police

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.