Lambourne v Baker (No 7)

The application for recusal was brought by the plaintiff, Mr Lambourne, against Justice Adamson of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The plaintiff sought the recusal of Justice Adamson on the grounds of apprehended bias, alleging that her Honour’s previous conduct in the proceedings gave rise to a reasonable apprehension that she might not bring an impartial mind to the resolution of the questions to be decided.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether there was a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of Justice Adamson, such that her Honour ought to recuse herself from hearing the appeal. This required the court to consider the established legal test for apprehended bias, which involves assessing whether a fair-minded lay observer, having considered the facts, would have apprehended that the judge might not bring an impartial mind to the issues.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the application. Her Honour applied the well-established test for apprehended bias, considering the plaintiff's allegations in light of the objective standard required. The court found that the plaintiff had not demonstrated that a fair-minded and informed observer would apprehend bias on the part of Justice Adamson. The court concluded that the plaintiff's concerns were not such as to give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias.

The application that Justice Adamson recuse herself was dismissed.