Khatib v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW)

The applicant, Khatib, sought judicial review of a decision of the District Court of New South Wales, which had confirmed a conviction entered in the Local Court. The applicant advanced a broad range of grounds for review, alleging jurisdictional error in both the conduct of the trial and the District Court appeal. These grounds included assertions of apprehended bias arising from the primary judge’s comments, denials of procedural fairness due to an inability to address the court personally and the judge’s possession of extraneous information, and constructive failures to exercise jurisdiction by not responding to significant arguments. Further grounds alleged mistaken denial of appellate jurisdiction, findings of fact made without evidence, diverse errors of law in the appeal process, and legally unreasonable or irrational factual findings.

The court was required to determine whether any of the applicant's numerous grounds of review established jurisdictional error on the part of the District Court. This involved examining whether the District Court had failed to exercise its jurisdiction, or had exercised it unlawfully, in its conduct of the appeal and its confirmation of the Local Court conviction. The court considered each of the applicant's asserted errors, including those relating to bias, procedural fairness, and the substantive determination of the appeal.

The court found that none of the applicant's grounds of review had merit. It reasoned that the applicant had failed to demonstrate any jurisdictional error in the District Court's conduct of the appeal or its confirmation of the conviction. The court concluded that there was no issue of principle raised by the application.

Consequently, the amended summons for judicial review was dismissed with costs.