Gunter v Bloxsom; Gunter v Woodford

The applicants, Gunter and Bloxsom, sought the reopening of decisions made by the Federal Court in relation to judicial review proceedings. Gunter sought to make a further legal argument, while Bloxsom sought to introduce new factual evidence. The case was heard in the Federal Court of Australia, with Justice von Doussa presiding. The applicants' legal representatives argued that the original decisions should be reopened because of the emergence of new evidence and arguments, but the court was required to decide whether such circumstances warranted a reopening of the proceedings.

The central legal issue was whether the applicants were entitled to reopen the judicial review proceedings, given that no new factual evidence had become available since the original decision. The court considered the relevant legislative provisions and the principles of judicial review. The applicants argued that the new evidence and arguments presented a compelling case for reopening the proceedings, but the court found that the statutory framework did not permit such a reopening without the presence of new factual evidence. The court concluded that the applicants had not satisfied the requirements for reopening the proceedings under the applicable legislation.

In the end, the court dismissed both applications. The applicants were not entitled to reopen the judicial review proceedings, as there was no new factual evidence that had become available since the original decisions. The court found that the applicants had not met the necessary criteria for reopening the proceedings, and thus the applications were dismissed. The final orders were that the application in S 882/95 be dismissed and the application in S 7751/97 be dismissed.