Khuu & Lee Pty Ltd v Corporation of the City of Adelaide

Khuu & Lee Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed a decision of a single judge who declined to grant judicial review of the Corporation of the City of Adelaide's (the respondent) decision not to renew one of the appellant's licences for areas within the Adelaide Central Market. The appellant occupied three adjoining areas under a lease and two licences, and the respondent's decision concerned the non-renewal of one of these licences at the expiry of its term.

The central legal issue before the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia was whether the respondent was obliged to accord procedural fairness to the appellant when determining not to renew the licence. This question arose in the context of the appellant's claim that the respondent's decision was amenable to judicial review.

The Court, comprising Sulan, Vanstone, and Peek JJ, ultimately dismissed the appeal. The reasoning, as articulated by Vanstone J and agreed with by Peek J, was that the respondent's decision not to renew the licence was not susceptible to judicial review. While acknowledging that the *Leases Act* applied to the appellant's tenancy, the Court found that relief under that Act was not available in this instance, and therefore the single judge had correctly determined that the respondent's decision was not subject to judicial review.