McMillan and McMillan (No.1)

In *McMillan and McMillan (No.1)*, the application for recusal was brought by the respondent, Mr. McMillan, against Judge Whelan of the Family Court of Australia. The dispute concerned allegations of apprehended bias on the part of the judge, leading to an application for the judge to disqualify herself from hearing the matter.

The central legal issue before the court was whether there were grounds for recusal based on apprehended bias. This required the court to consider whether a reasonable and informed observer, having considered the facts, would apprehend that the judge might not bring an impartial mind to the resolution of the question the judge is to decide.

Judge Whelan dismissed the application for recusal. The reasoning applied was that the test for apprehended bias was not met. The judge found that the circumstances, when viewed objectively by a reasonable person, did not give rise to a perception that the judge would be unable to act impartially. Therefore, the application for recusal on the grounds of apprehended bias was dismissed.