Kontorinakis v National Crime Authority

The applicant, Kontorinakis, sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Full Federal Court, which had dismissed his appeal from a decision of Davies J. Davies J had dismissed Kontorinakis's application for review of a listening device warrant issued by Mr Justice Merling. The primary dispute concerned the validity of the warrant, which Kontorinakis argued was invalid on its face.

The legal issues before the High Court were whether the Full Federal Court had erred in dismissing the appeal, and by extension, whether the warrant issued under subsection (7) of section 219B of the *Customs Act* was valid. Specifically, the court was required to consider the requirements for the issuance of such a warrant, including the grounds upon which a judge must be satisfied, and whether the warrant itself adequately reflected those grounds.

The applicant's submission was that section 219B(7) of the *Customs Act* created two distinct bases for the issuance of a warrant: either that premises had been used in connection with a narcotics offence, or that they were likely to be used in the future. The applicant contended that the warrant issued by Mr Justice Merling did not specify which of these bases, or indeed both, the issuing judge had been satisfied of, rendering it invalid on its face. The court was therefore examining the statutory requirements for the warrant and whether the issued warrant met those requirements.