Hua Wang Bank Berhad v Commissioner of Taxation (No 16)

In the Federal Court of Australia, the case of Hua Wang Bank Berhad v Commissioner of Taxation (No 16) involved the bank seeking the revocation of non-publication orders that had been previously imposed due to the criminal prosecution of third parties. The bank argued that since the third parties were no longer subject to criminal prosecution but were still under investigation, the administration of justice required the publication of the reasons for the judgment. The Commissioner of Taxation opposed the revocation, maintaining that the suppression should continue.

The legal issues before the court included whether the suppression order should be revoked given the change in circumstances and whether the judge should recuse himself from the application due to adverse credit findings made in a previous judgment. The court needed to determine if a reasonable person would apprehend that the judge would not bring a fair mind to the resolution of the application.

The court dismissed the application for the judge's recusal, finding that there was no basis to believe that the judge could not fairly consider the matter. Regarding the suppression order, the court set aside the previous orders and directed that the reasons for the decision in Hua Wang Bank Berhad v Commissioner of Taxation [2014] FCA 1392 should not be published to anyone other than the parties and two named individuals. This order was to remain in force until 11:30 am on 19 December 2014. Additionally, the court ordered the two named individuals to pay the Commissioner of Taxation's costs associated with the application to set aside the orders of 8 April 2014.