Kamm v State of New South Wales (No 4)

The New South Wales Court of Appeal, comprising Bathurst CJ, Beazley P, and Payne JA, considered an appeal by Mr Kamm against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the constitutional validity of the *Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006* (NSW) and its application to Mr Kamm, who had been determined to be a high-risk offender.

The Court was required to determine whether the Act undermined the institutional integrity of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, thereby contravening the *Kable* principle. This involved assessing whether the legislation was distinguishable from that considered in *Fardon v Attorney-General (Qld)* and *Wainohu v New South Wales*. Further issues included whether the objectives of the Act were penal or punitive in nature, and whether the Supreme Court's decision to make an extended supervision order was void for legal unreasonableness, or if there had been a denial of procedural fairness due to inadequate reasons.

The Court reasoned that the *Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006* (NSW) did not offend the *Kable* principle. It distinguished the Act from the legislation considered in *Wainohu*, finding that the Supreme Court retained a sufficient degree of judicial discretion in making extended supervision orders. The Court also concluded that the Act's objectives were protective rather than punitive, and that the primary judge's decision was not legally unreasonable nor was there a denial of procedural fairness.

Consequently, the Court extended the time to bring the appeal, granted leave to appeal, and directed that the filed notice of appeal stand as the formal notice. However, the appeal itself was dismissed.